Increase in population on Indianapolis' northwest side results in health center growth
August 30, 2007
Contact: Don Kaczorowski
Phone: (317) 630-7949
Pager: (317) 310-5972
Indianapolis, August 30, 2007 – A growing population on Indianapolis' northwest side has led Wishard Health Services to expand its pharmacy services. Pecar Health Center at 6940 N. Michigan Road recently addressed this need with the addition of a full-service pharmacy.
This essential addition to Wishard's family of health centers fills prescriptions written for people who visit Pecar, as well as any other Wishard patient. The Wishard pharmacies fill approximately one million prescriptions a year for Wishard patients.
"This is a tremendous opportunity to increase our ability to meet our mission to serve the underserved," said Todd Cox, manager outpatient pharmacy services at Wishard Health Services. "Many patients have transportation or scheduling issues, and this pharmacy will provide the vital step of medication to complete their therapy."
Obtaining medications will be easier for those who previously may have experienced a delay in getting their prescriptions filled because of location issues.
The new pharmacy, which started construction in March, also provides relief for Wishard's outpatient pharmacies at Blackburn Community Health Center and the Primary Care Center, which experience very high patient volume.
Pecar's pharmacy has been designed to allow for expansion, so that more staff, if necessary, may be hired. Also featured in the new space is a comfortable waiting room, a private area for confidential patient counseling and separate pick-up and drop-off windows.
Wishard's pharmacy department partnered with the Wishard Memorial Foundation to facilitate the funding from outside grants. Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield Foundation; The Indianapolis Foundation, an affiliate of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the Cummins Foundation are all organizations that helped make the Pecar Pharmacy a reality.
The need for a pharmacy within the Pecar Health Center is largely a result of the increasing population of the Crooked Creek neighborhood.
Pecar Health Center, which is located on the Jim and Lois Ackerman Health Campus, provides a medical home for families in the areas of internal and family medicine, pediatrics, adolescent care, family planning, dental care and social services. The center is one of eight Wishard Health Services neighborhood health centers located throughout Indianapolis. Pecar was opened in 2003 to benefit northwest Indianapolis residents and was established in memory of Philip and Vivian Pecar. The center is a collaborative initiative of the Marion County Health Department, Wishard Health Services, IU Medical Group-Primary Care and Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County.
For more information about Pecar Health Center's Pharmacy, please call (317) 266-2950.