HIV/AIDS Patients Get New Pharmacy in Worcester

Pharmacist and manager Daniel Apelian stands at the new pharmacy of All Care in Worcester, Mass. (photo: E. A. de Oliveira, EthnicNEWz.org)

The inauguration of All Care in Worcester this week represents more than a new pharmacy for patients in Central Massachusetts. It means guaranteed privacy for patients who are HIV-positive.

All Care is unique for sharing a lobby – and a side door – with AIDS Project Worcester, a nonprofit that has helped combat the spread of the disease for the past 21 years. The agency cares for 525 HIV-infected people every month, of whom 40 percent are Latina women; and 14 percent, African American.

At the opening ceremony on October 6, 2008, several state officials, including state Sen. Harriette L. Chandler and Kevin Cranston, director of the HIV/AIDS Bureau at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, recognized that for HIV patients, privacy is a major issue.

“When I took my clinical rotation (at pharmacy school) I worked with chronic diseases like HIV/AIDS. I spent some time with patients here at the lobby, and their major concern was that it usually took three visits to a regular pharmacy until they could get the medication they needed,” said Daniel Apelian, All Care’s manager.

“If you have blood pressure it would not be ok, but if you’re HIV-positive it’s unacceptable,” said Apelian, a pharmacist with a doctorate from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, in Boston.

Before partnering with Worcester AIDS Project, Apelian helped open new stores for a pharmacy chain.

“I was working up to 80 hours a week.  At the end of the day I wasn’t happy. It was never about the money. It felt like empty work,” he said.

A major benefit offered by the new pharmacy, he says, is the “patient consultation door,” a section where patients can have a one-on-one conversation with the pharmacist, away from the reach of others. The pharmacy’s lobby carries no chairs – and that’s intentional.

The idea is to invite patients to use the agency’s waiting room area.

“This pharmacy not only respects a patient’s right to confidentiality, but is both convenient and comprehensive for their needs,” said Joe McKee, executive director of the next-door agency.

All Care is full-time, full-capacity pharmacy. But its reclusive location – hidden behind several commercial buildings on Green St –  gives the place an air of exclusive service for WAP’s patients. During the first informal month of operations in October, All Care assisted 100 patients, the vast majority of them WAP clients.

The pharmacy accepts several health insurance plans and it also helps patients get coverage from the state's HIV Drug Assistance Program. HDAP, how it’s known in Massachusetts, is a state-sponsored program that helps low-income patients pay for their drug co-payments.

Patients are required to file jointly for Medicaid and HDAP. To qualify, they have to be HIV-positive, must reside in the state, and earn a gross annual income that doesn't exceed $50,000 (plus $3,480 for each dependent). US citizenship is not required.

The newly-inaugurated pharmacy is open six days a week. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30p.m.; and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“I went to pharmacy school not to count pills all day, but to help people. Patients finally found an appropriate setting to meet their needs. That’s why working here fulfills me on multiple fronts,” said Apelian, who is now earning significantly less at All Care than when he opened pharmacies across the state.

source:  EthnicNEWz.org

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