Maine pharmacists struggle under growing workload

For many people in Maine, pharmacists represent the lowest barriers to care, especially when other medical providers implement office restrictions or offer only telemedicine. Pharmacists are seeing their workloads increase as they call physicians and insurance companies, order drugs and supplies, and clean and sanitize. They also offer vaccinations, clinical testing, compound medications, and offer consultations. Bangor-based pharmacist Abdullah Al-Fdeilat says: “We’re basically evaluating the whole patient.” Pharmacist Tracy Street says while she does not have an issue with administering immunizations or encouraging customers to get them, vaccination paperwork is time-consuming, as is doing overhead announcements and calling doctors. During peak influenza immunization season, pharmacists may administer dozens of doses a day. One Augusta pharmacist says his employer tracks each task and conducts productivity reports. If the pharmacists are too slow, they will receive warnings, which may eventually result in dismissal. Moreover, pharmacy jobs are difficult to find in Maine. The pharmacy schools in the state graduate more than 100 new pharmacists annually, but the Maine Department of Labor says the pharmacist job market only has 46 openings a year.