Where Did All The Corner Drug Stores Go? Areas Lose Easy Access To Medicine

Where Did All The Corner Drug Stores Go? Areas Lose Easy Access To Medicine

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You’ve heard of food deserts — often low-income neighborhoods that are more than a mile from a grocery store. Now another service desert is on the rise in these same neighborhoods: pharmacy deserts. As pharmacies slowly begin to close down on Chicago’s South and West sides, residents are finding it harder to access needed medication.

So why are pharmacies closing up shop and what factors are exacerbating the problem for patients? 

GUESTS:

Ese Olumhense, Chicago Tribune reporter

Dima Qato, assistant professor in the department of pharmacy systems, outcomes and policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who studies pharmacy access, particularly among minorities and low-income neighborhoods