Walgreens Security Operation Center in Deerfield, Ill.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is taking proactive measures to assist customers, team members and communities in the projected path of Hurricane Florence, and is preparing to fully support impacted regions in the storm’s aftermath.  The company is taking the following steps:

• Prescription Drug Preparedness: In advance of the hurricane, Walgreens is underscoring the importance of prescription preparedness for its pharmacy patients in areas that may be impacted.  With a State of Emergency declared in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina, pharmacists in the state can refill medications up to a 30-day supply without requiring a prescriber’s refill authorization for any non-controlled substance. Walgreens suggests patients take a waterproof bag with any current medications – even if the bottle is empty. The information on the prescription label will help pharmacy staff with refill requests. Heat, humidity and sunlight can degrade the effectiveness of medicine and therefore it is important to protect prescriptions from extreme weather conditions Patients can also use the Walgreens mobile app to refill prescriptions and pick up at a nearby pharmacy. Patients can find the nearest Walgreens store by visiting the store locator feature on Walgreens.com, using the Walgreens mobile app or by calling 1-800-WALGREENS. Patients can also contact pharmacy staff 24/7 through Pharmacy Chat on Walgreens.com and the mobile app.
• Customer Support: Walgreens is proactively staging temporary mobile pharmacies near the region that can be deployed, if necessary, to drugstores that may be damaged or unable to reopen in a timely manner. Walgreens has also staged emergency power generators that can be deployed to drugstores in areas where there is a loss of power. As of 1 PM CT on Sept. 12, approximately 80 locations have temporarily closed as the storm approaches. The company will work to reopen those locations as soon as possible.  Updates on store locations will be available on Walgreens.com.
• Relief and Recovery: The company will be evaluating its philanthropic response immediately following the hurricane and intends to activate its nationwide network of stores to allow individuals to donate to the American Red Cross hurricane relief efforts, in addition to preparing to donate needed items to emergency shelters. For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Walgreens customers donated more than $10 million to the American Red Cross Hurricane Harvey Relief efforts.

“Walgreens is fully mobilizing to support the health and wellness needs of our customers and communities facing this dangerous storm. We urge our patients and customers to follow evacuation orders and get to a safe location first and then refill medications at the nearest pharmacy. Walgreens has approximately 9,800 locations nationwide that are able to access patient’s records,” said Richard Ashworth, Walgreens president of operations. “We have a dedicated team in our Emergency Operations Center working to ensure our team members in the impacted areas remain safe and are preparing to rapidly restore operations in order to best serve our patients and communities.”