Trinity Health, which provides support to students' primary health needs, urgent care, and prescriptions, will temporarily close its Campus Medical Pharmacy, effective Friday, March 22, at 5 p.m., Eastern Michigan University announced.
The close, according to the email, is due to "ongoing operational issues with the pharmacy operator contracted by Trinity Health." The pharmacy intends to reopen later in the summer of 2024, according to the March 14 announcement sent by Ellen Gold, dean of students and Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs.
This comes after a string of notifications from the University going back and forth about outstanding issues that the pharmacy has been facing. According to a Jan. 5 announcement from Eastern, Integrated Healthcare Associates (IHA), which is part of Trinity Health and one of the collaborators of the pharmacy, was informing students that the pharmacy was closing in the near future. This was contrary to the information they had provided to the school in December of 2023.
"The Campus Medical Pharmacy has recently experienced supply and staffing issues that have affected their hours of operation and levels of service. We are working to resolve them as quickly as possible," IHA said in a statement to EMU back in January. "In the meantime, we want to ensure continuity of services for faculty, staff, students, and the community. If a prescription cannot be filled at the Campus Medical Pharmacy, the Reichert Health Center Outpatient Pharmacy is available, located 1 mile away on the Trinity Ann Arbor Hospital Campus."
During this time, students who are on the EMU United HealthCare Student Resources (UHCSR) insurance plan will have to go to Reichert Pharmacy, located at 5333 McAuley Drive, Ypsilanti, MI. Reichert is another Trinity Health medical center which is located near Rynearson Stadium.
The Echo reached out to Trinity Health to discuss the topic and received the following statement along with the listed information from EMU's previous announcement.
"Near the end of 2023 the Health Center at EMU’s independent pharmacy operator, Campus Medical Pharmacy, began experiencing supply and staffing issues. Both Trinity Health IHA Medical Group and EMU began working alongside the pharmacy owner to ensure there was minimal disruption in services. This proved difficult and a decision to move forward with closing the pharmacy and ending the lease with Campus Medical Pharmacy was made," Trinity Health said in a statement.
The Echo reached out to the University and received a statement from Walter Kraft, vice president of Eastern Michigan's Communications.
"Over the past several months, concerns have been raised by some student and employee customers of the pharmacy about the pharmacy operation. These concerns included the availability of prescription medication and the operator reportedly telling customers the pharmacy would be closing soon. The university shared these concerns with Trinity Health, which had a contractual relationship with the pharmacy operator. After reviewing the matter, Trinity Health determined that it would close the pharmacy in order to reopen it as a fully operated Trinity Health pharmacy. Once the licensing process is completed, which is expected to take several months, the pharmacy will reopen," Kraft said.
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Eastern has stated that all current arrangements and benefits for students on the UHCSR plan will be upheld at Reichert. However, those on the plan who fill their prescriptions at other pharmacies will be responsible for half of the bill charged, after meeting annual deductibles.
Trinity Health will also provide transportation from the EMU campus to the Reichert Pharmacy for those who require it. Students may call 734-896-4110, send a message through Trinity's MyChart portal, or walk into the campus health center to request transportation.
"The University apologizes for the inconvenience this has caused campus customers of the pharmacy and is working with Trinity Health to help ensure there are no future disruptions of service," Kraft said.
The University first announced issues with the Campus Medical Pharmacy on Dec. 22, stating that the pharmacy and center would remain open despite the third-party pharmacy operator stating that it would close effectively on Jan. 2. to a small number of patrons. At the time, IHA was able to resolve the outstanding issues with the operator.
The Campus Medical Pharmacy and Health Center opened in the summer of 2019 after EMU, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS), and IHA joined forces for its opening. The plan to bring the center was approved by the Board of Regents on Feb. 9, 2019. The construction had cost the University $1.8 million while IHA and SJMHS funded $6.6 million.
"Access to high-quality care, including needed medications, is very important. Trinity Health will continue to support patients during this transition and will seek to reduce or eliminate any barriers to care they may experience," Trinity Health said in a statement.
For more updates and statements from the University, The Echo will update this story.
