November 07, 2022 HINTON, W.VA.  – Summers County ARH Hospital recently celebrated the opening of its new retail pharmacy.
The pharmacy, located at 115 Summers Hospital Rd., on the campus of Summers ARH, opened Nov. 1.

“It went well,” said Leann Umberger, director of pharmacy for Beckley ARH and Summers ARH. “Everyone is happy and excited that we’re here.”
Summers ARH CEO Wes Dangerfield said the pharmacy adds to the convenience of care as it allows patients at both the hospital and the adjacent Summers County ARH Rural Health Clinic to leave the hospital campus with their prescribed medications.

“Patients who come to the clinic, ER patients and inpatient persons admitted to the hospital, can get their medications here, so, when it’s time to go home, they don’t have to make an additional stop,” he said. “We’ve got everything here in one place.”

Umberger agreed, likening the pharmacy to “the last piece of the puzzle for healthcare.”
Adding to the convenience, she said, is the Meds to Beds program, which further streamlines the process.

“When a patient is being discharged and the physician prescribes medicine to take home, we can fill those prescriptions at the retail pharmacy and deliver them to their bedside,” she said. “That way, they have them in hand when they walk out the door and won’t have to stop to pick them up.”
Dangerfield said the pharmacy will also serve the community – including those who are not hospital or clinic patients – as well as hospital employees who previously had to use the ARH retail pharmacy in Beckley.

“Our employees are absolutely thrilled,”

Dangerfield said. “By having a pharmacy here, the employees of Summers County ARH can use their own pharmacy. That provides a greater sense of pride, if you’re a healthcare worker, to be able to get your medicine and everything you need right where you work.”

Umberger said the process for community members interested in transferring their prescriptions to the pharmacy is simple.
“We just need their name, birthday and the name of the pharmacy they use and we can get those transferred right over,” she said, adding the pharmacy will also offer flu, shingles, pneumonia and Covid vaccines.

Dangerfield said he is excited about the addition to the Summers County ARH Hospital campus.
“I really think this will benefit our patients and our employees and will provide greater service to the entire community,” he said.