Pharmacist Brooke McComb fills a prescription at the Meijer pharmacy in Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.

From right: Meijer's Rick Keyes, Hank Meijer and Doug Meijer help open the new pharmacy.

Meijer co-chairman Doug Meijer and Spectrum Health CEO Richard Breon

Spectrum Health CEO Richard Breon buys bandages at the new Meijer pharmacy now open in Butterworth Hospital.

Meijer co-chairman Hank Meijer talks with Spectrum Health SVP Roger Jansen.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Supercenter operator Meijer has opened a full-service retail pharmacy here at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.

Meijer said the opening, announced Monday, makes it one of the first major retailers to open a pharmacy in a large hospital system in Michigan.

Owned and operated by Meijer, the pharmacy features comprehensive services and over-the-counter products typically requested by hospital staff, patients and their families. The company said the pharmacy, situated on the hospital’s main floor between Butterworth Hospital and the Meijer Heart Center, was rebuilt after the project was announced in April.

Meijer noted that the partnership reflects a national trend to make it easier for patients released from the hospital to get their prescriptions filled before leaving.

“Our pharmacies provide genuine care to our customers at times when they need it most,” Rick Keyes, president of Meijer and a former pharmacist for the chain, said in a statement. “We believe our new pharmacy on the Spectrum Health campus will increase convenience for their patients and employees, as well as for those individuals who live and work downtown.”

The Meijer pharmacy at Butterworth Hospital has five pharmacists and a specially trained diabetes care pharmacist who can advise people with diabetes, discuss medication management, and give tips and tools to eat and live healthier. The pharmacy is open 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

“This new pharmacy will make it more convenient in so many ways for our patients, visitors and employees,” stated Christina Freese-Decker, president of Spectrum Health Hospital Group, a nonprofit health system that includes 12 hospitals overall. “Meijer has been an exceptional community partner to Spectrum Health, and their retail expertise is beneficial.”

The hospital pharmacy also will partake in the Meijer’s free prescription program, which includes  that no-charge antibiotics, prenatal vitamins, metformin and generic Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium). Prescriptions filled at the pharmacy are eligible for the Meijer Pharmacy Rewards program offered via mPerks and can be set up to automatically refill when necessary at any Meijer pharmacy.

Meijer operates 222 supercenters and grocery stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. All of the locations have pharmacies.