Life-Sustaining Care

After picking up her prescriptions at St. Vincent de Paul’s Deaconess Health Check / Charitable Pharmacy, Jennie gets into her car and cries. The gratitude she feels is overwhelming.

“I am not sure what I would do without the Charitable Pharmacy.”

Jennie has worked all her adult life. Now 67 years old, Jennie continues to work to be able to afford to live. Wages from her full-time job and assistance from Medicare are simply not enough for Jennie to afford the hefty copays on her medications, totaling in the thousands each month. Over the years, she has withdrawn $20,000 from her retirement account just to pay for her prescribed medications.

Now, Jennie has prescriptions filled at no cost, thanks to the Charitable Pharmacy.

“Without the Charitable Pharmacy, I would still be making decisions about what I can and can’t afford,” Jennie asserts. “Now I don’t have to do that, and it has made a world of difference.”

In the 2021 fiscal year, St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy filled 70,190 prescriptions valued at nearly $10.7 million, saving the local healthcare system an estimated $5.3 million in emergency room visits, hospital stays, and other costs.

Charitable Pharmacy 2021, BY THE NUMBERS:

$10.34 worth of medication dispensed for every dollar donated

87% of prescriptions filled from donated medication

1,496 primary care appointments performed

1,582 comprehensive medication reviews

1,667 patients served