ATHENS, GA | by Alex Soderstrom| February 20, 2019
Original article can be found at: https://www.redandblack.com
Say goodbye to the smallest pharmacy in Georgia.
The Athens Neighborhood Health Center showed off its newly-constructed pharmacy at a grand opening ceremony on Feb. 19. The expansion underscores ANHC’s effort to provide uninsured and underinsured patients with affordable medical care, which the health center has done since 1971.
The grand opening brought staff, patients and officials to the existing health center in East Athens to grab a glance of the new pharmacy, which features three windows, a spacious back room and a waiting area. The pharmacy marks a drastic improvement over the health center’s old, cramped pharmacy, which was at one point the smallest in the state.
Mayor Kelly Girtz, Commissioner Mariah Parker and others attended the ribbon cutting ceremony at the grand opening of the Athens Neighborhood Health Center pharmacy on Feb. 19.
Those present at the ceremony included Mayor Kelly Girtz, who helped cut the pharmacy’s ribbon, District 2 Commissioner Mariah Parker and University of Georgia College of Pharmacy Dean Kelly Smith.
“I think when we look around at the Athens-Clarke community, part of what draws us here and, in some cases, keeps us here lifelong, is the fact that we support each other, and we care about each other,” Girtz said.
ANHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center, which means it meets requirements as a community health center to receive funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration, a federal agency. The center prices primary care and medication on a sliding scale. Patients who are low-income, uninsured or underinsured pay a fraction for services and medication at ANHC than they would elsewhere.
More than 40 years after its founding, ANHC has expanded from one Athens facility to three. Approximately 7,200 patients visit ANHC in a year, CEO Marcus Garner said. An estimated 16.2 percent of residents in Athens under 65 years of age don’t have health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That value is above the total state’s rate of 15.4 percent and much higher than the national rate, which was 10.2 percent in 2017.
Before these most recent renovations, the tiny pharmacy at the East Athens center strained under the heavy patient load. The pharmacy was nothing more than a converted office, and the constrained space meant there was little room to store medication, pharmacist Saman Kazemi said. The old pharmacy didn’t even meet state regulations, Kazemi said. ANHC representatives made an exception with the Georgia Board of Pharmacy when it opened around four years ago.
Betty Willoughby, a Watkinsville resident and frequent patron of the ANHC pharmacy, said using the old pharmacy was like being squeezed into a “cubby hole.” The health center, which she said offers the cheapest medication she can find, has come a long way, she said.
The east side ANHC is located within Parker’s district, and the commissioner said the center addresses two issues facing many Athens residents: the high cost of health care as well as the complicated, alienating health care industry.
“Having something very local and as well having super friendly folks who work here is really inviting for folks to come in and do wellness checks,” Parker said.
Even at the grand opening of the health center’s latest expansion, staff and officials still looked forward to further growth in ANHC’s future.
“I’m so excited about this expansion, and I have to say, I’m already looking forward to the next expansion,” Girtz said.
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