Sierra County Pharmacy Proposal Heads to Public Meeting
Loyalton discussion will explore mobile and pop-up services for residents.
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LOYALTON – A proposal to bring mobile or pop-up pharmacy services into Sierra County will be discussed at an open meeting Thursday, October 22, from 9:30 to 11 AM at the Loyalton Senior Center.
Supervisor Sharon Dryden announced the presentation at the October 20 Board of Supervisors meeting. Agency on Aging Area 4 will discuss the project as part of the quarterly senior collaborative, which brings together organizations serving older residents. Dryden invited anyone interested to attend.
The effort addresses a gap the aging agency identified in its April proposal: Sierra County had no operating pharmacy, leaving residents to travel outside the county for prescriptions. The proposal focuses on older adults and people whose mobility, transportation, or health problems make that travel difficult.
Options include a mobile pharmacy making scheduled stops and pop-up clinics at community locations. Proposed services include filling prescriptions, providing refills, counseling patients about their medications, and coordinating with health care providers.
In her April 21 report to supervisors, Dryden described a mobile pharmacy van serving eastern and western Sierra County.
Dryden said Tuesday that the agency has funding for a three-year pilot and feasibility effort. She described Thursday’s presentation as a beginning to the discussion of bringing the service to Sierra County.
On April 10, the agency’s governing board and advisory council approved work to assess whether a rural pharmacy model could operate successfully in Sierra County and to help put it in place if feasible.
The staff proposal called for studying the model’s long-term viability, launching a pilot if feasible, and evaluating it before moving toward an ongoing program. It named Sierra County, Incorporated Senior Citizens of Sierra County, and Eastern Plumas Health Care among the partners the agency would seek to work with.
Thursday’s meeting is at the Loyalton Senior Center, 302 First Street.