Former Marshfield Pharmacist Understands Increased Difficulties Facing Pharmacists

Thursday, November 2nd, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

(By Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Norbert Salamonski recently retired from working as a pharmacist at Walgreens in Marshfield.

According to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, based on his experience, Salamonski said he's not surprised to see pharmacists and technicians walking out at retail pharmacy chains across the country.

After walkouts at CVS stores in September and at Walgreens earlier this month, national media outlets reported on Monday that organizers at both chains were planning additional walkouts over the next three days.

While none of those labor actions have happened in Wisconsin so far, Salamonski said pharmacy staff have struggled with a growing workload and declining staffing for years. He said that problem only worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In 1999 when I started, a busy day would be maybe 250 scripts and that's just regular prescriptions, an occasional compound of some ointments," he said. "Today, we're doing 1,000 a day, which includes compounding all the vaccines with no increase in hours of help."

Salamonski said pharmacists often don't get a break or have the opportunity to sit during their nine-hour shift behind the counter, which includes running between the drive-up and in-store windows, preparing prescriptions and administering vaccines.

He said pharmacy technicians are critical to taking on the increased workload, but many positions that were once full-time were reduced to part-time jobs in recent years.

At the same time, Salamonski said pharmacy staff are experiencing an increasing number of patient outbursts and harassment when medicines aren't covered by insurance or when there are shortages from the manufacturer.

He said all of these factors have led to increased burnout among both pharmacists and technicians. It's one of the reasons he chose to retire last year, on top of his frustration over what he describes as a lack of understanding and appreciation shown by corporate officials.

Fraser Engerman, senior director of external relations for Walgreens, said in an email the company has "taken a number of steps in our pharmacies to ensure that our teams can concentrate on providing optimal patient care."

He said the company is focused on how they recruit, retain and reward staff, and have worked to centralize operations "to help maintain appropriate workloads in our pharmacies."

Engerman said only two pharmacies out of the company's nearly 9,000 were closed on Monday due to "workforce disruptions" and one was closed today. None of the closures were in Wisconsin.

Although Wisconsin locations haven't joined walkouts, Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin CEO Sarah Sorum said many pharmacists in the state have joined the calls for industry-wide change.

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