The Conversation - The rise of pharmacy deserts

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Lead story

If you’ve noticed a boarded-up pharmacy in your neighborhood, you’re not alone. Over the past few years, thousands of drugstores – ranging from mom-and-pop shops to chain stores like CVS – have closed their doors.

Pharmacy professors Lucas A. Berenbrok, Sophia Herbert and Michael Murphy have been closely studying this problem. They point to shrinking reimbursement rates from insurers, increasing burnout among pharmacists and a shifting healthcare landscape as key reasons for these closures.

As pharmacies disappear, so-called “pharmacy deserts” are growing – especially in communities where people already face barriers to health care. With fewer local drugstores, people may struggle to refill prescriptions, get preventive care or find a pharmacist who speaks their language.

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Tracy Walsh

Economy + Business Editor

Pharmacists do more than fill prescriptions. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Why community pharmacies are closing – and what to do if your neighborhood location shutters

Lucas A. Berenbrok, University of Pittsburgh; Michael Murphy, The Ohio State University; Sophia Herbert, University of Pittsburgh

Thousands of American pharmacies have shuttered over the past five years.

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