NEW LONDON, CT (Feb. 6, 2024) Yale New Haven Health (YNHHS) cut the ribbon on a state-of-the-art retail pharmacy in the main lobby of Lawrence + Memorial (L+M) Hospital today, introducing integrated, personalized medication care for patients, employees and the surrounding community.
“This is a proud day for our hospital,” said Richard C. Lisitano, MS, RPh, president of L+M Healthcare. “As a pharmacist earlier in my career, I know firsthand how vital the role can be for patients and families. This hospital has served the community for more than a century, and today we hope the community will embrace this new service as another opportunity for L+M to deliver the greatest of care to everyone.”
LeeAnn Miller, PharmD, vice president of Pharmacy Services for Yale New Haven Health, noted that the 1,700-square-foot facility at L+M is a model the health system aims to replicate at its other hospitals. “This pharmacy at L+M enables us to offer seamlessly integrated and coordinated care to our patients,” Miller said. “Patients will have access to safe, accurate, high-value medication services which is our pharmacy care signature.”
The pharmacy will be open seven days a week for patients being discharged from the hospital, as well as patients looking to refill prescriptions, residents who live in the area and need convenient access to a retail pharmacy, as well as hospital employees. In addition to retail pharmacy services, patients will have access to YNHHS’s network of Specialty and Home Infusion pharmacies.
Oliver Mayorga, MD, chief medical officer for L+M Healthcare, said the pharmacy will help bridge the gap between inpatient care and patients going home. “We see readmissions when patients, upon discharge, can’t immediately get the medications they need from area pharmacies,” Dr. Mayorga said. “With this new service, patients will receive the medications they need before leaving the hospital, and our pharmacists will answer all their questions and provide consultations to ensure they understand how to take those medications safely and effectively.”
The L+M retail pharmacy is the fourth to be opened by YNHHS. The others are located at: Saint Raphael’s campus of Yale New Haven Hospital; North Haven Medical Center, Outpatient Pharmacy Services in Hamden, which also provides specialty medications; and the Regional Operations Center in West Haven, which serves Home Infusion therapy patients’ needs. An additional pharmacy is planned for Bridgeport Hospital.
Medication consultations will be available for every patient who is discharged, even if they choose to use another pharmacy. Patients will receive bedside consultations if they are unable to stop at the pharmacy upon discharge. And, if the pharmacy is closed when a patient is discharged, their medications will be delivered to their home. The pharmacy will accept all major insurances, assist with co-pay programs and offer online ordering.
L+M will provide dedicated parking at the hospital main entrance for patients picking up prescriptions, as well as curbside pickup for non-ambulatory patients and free delivery services in the local community.
Yale New Haven Health’s retail pharmacies offer full pharmacy services, immunizations and over-the-counter medications. By filling medications through Yale New Haven Health, the hospital’s healthcare providers can easily communicate with a patient’s provider through Epic/MyChart which is the electronic medical record system. This leads to quicker responses for medication questions, refill requests, prior authorization approvals and questions about financial assistance.
Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, a member of Yale New Haven Health, is a non-profit, 308-bed general and acute care hospital providing patient care to medical, surgical, pediatric, psychiatric and obstetrical patients in southeastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island since 1912. Lawrence + Memorial offers cardiac acute, step-down and rehabilitation programs and is the only eastern Connecticut hospital that performs emergency and elective angioplasty. www.lmhospital.org
