Morro Bay drug store closes suddenly. Where will all the prescriptions go?
Customers of Morro Bay Drug & Gift got a nasty shock this month when they went to the store for prescriptions or other purchases and found the door locked, shelves empty and the store vacant.
The only information there about the abrupt closure came from signs saying the longtime pharmacy was no longer in operation, the location is for rent, and their prescriptions had been transferred to Rite Aid at 740 Quintana Road.
As of April 4, the store’s phone number had been disconnected. But, on the weekend before the service was discontinued, the recorded message was the same: The store was closed and prescriptions had been transferred to Rite Aid.
Meanwhile, Rite Aid’s pharmacy phone lines at 805-772-6198 were swamped, and social media posts from startled and worried pharmacy customers mourned the loss of the store while fretting about timely access to their medications and records.
The Rite Aid voicemail message’s main menu identified it as the Morro Bay store “and the former Morro Bay Drug,” with instructions for customers of the latter store.
Terri Hickey, Rite Aid’s corporate director of public relations, replied via email Thursday, saying that “Rite Aid acquired these prescriptions on March 31, and letters are being sent to customers informing them of this change. In addition, signage was posted at Morro Bay Drug & Gift to let customers know where their prescriptions are located. Customers may contact the Morro Bay Rite Aid for questions or additional information. We look forward to welcoming these new customers at Rite Aid and serving their everyday, whole-health needs.”
The Tribune was unable to reach Sumtra Paul, who owns the Morro Bay Drug business and the building. Likewise, voicemail messages left on the “for rent” sign phone number did not produce return calls.
Headding reflects on the closure
John Headding, now Morro Bay’s mayor, said Wednesday that he had no idea that the pharmacy he founded decades ago was going to shut down, let alone do it so suddenly He said he’d first learned about the closure when a constituent texted him about the notices on the shop’s door.
He said he’d not had contact with Paul for a little over a year, and he found the closure “very surprising,” but the manner in which it was done was not.
“There’s no 30-day notice requirement” on patient records when a pharmacy closes, he said, unlike the rules for physicians who retire or close their practices.
Headding said he’d sold Paul the business and the building and had no financial ties to either anymore.
The mayor, a pharmacist himself, said pharmacy chains often try to buy active-prescription inventories from smaller competitors. An active prescription is one with continuing renewals.
“Every three months or so, I’d get a letter from Rite Aid,” he recalled of the two decades or so that he and his family operated the Morro Bay store before selling it to Paul.
The Headdings also owned Cambria Drug and Gift for eight years before selling it to current owner/pharmacist Alvin Ferrer in 2012.
“We’re saddened as a family” about the closure and for the community, the mayor said. “We built it as a thriving business. It was hard for us to sell it, but it was time to retire. It was a great opportunity for whoever walked in there to make it a big success. We’re sad about the loss of that kind of service for the patients we had for over 20 years.”
