Central City’s last drugstore closes
The tiny Somerset County town of Central City is without a pharmacy today for the first time in decades. On March 28, Martella’s Family of Pharmacies closed its Penn Laurel Pharmacy, which the company owned for 30 years. Martella’s owner Jacqueline Martella blamed the closure on losses resulting from an ongoing dispute with pharmacy benefit…
The tiny Somerset County town of Central City is without a pharmacy today for the first time in decades.
On March 28, Martella’s Family of Pharmacies closed its Penn Laurel Pharmacy, which the company owned for 30 years. Martella’s owner Jacqueline Martella blamed the closure on losses resulting from an ongoing dispute with pharmacy benefit manager, St. Louis-based Express Scripts Inc., which put her pharmacies out of network for customers with Highmark and UPMC Health Plan coverage.
“We lost so much of our business,” she said. “How long do we lose money?
“This one got hit the hardest; it’s so rural.”
Express Scripts’ decision means Highmark and UPMC Health Plan customers no longer receive discounts when filling prescriptions at any of Martella’s six stores. The nearest pharmacy from Central City is in Windber, where Penn Laurel’s records have been moved, about 11 miles away.
In a statement, Express Scripts said it ended its contract with Martella’s because the pharmacy did not disclose disciplinary histories with state and federal regulators regarding the safekeeping and dispensing of controlled substances, which violated the company’s provider agreement. Ms. Martella said she is continuing to appeal the company’s decision, which went into final effect in December.
In the meantime, Ms. Martella said her company would serve Central City with free twice-weekly prescription deliveries.
Central City, population about 960, is a fading coal town in northwestern Somerset County that has a large elderly population and poverty rate of 15.7%, well above the state level of 11% to 12%.