Photo By Staff Sgt. Derek Seifert | Patients wait in the lobby for their medications at the McDonald Army Health Center Pharmacy, June 19, 2020. With the introduction of restaurant-style pagers, the pharmacy can now provide service to 78 patients at any given time. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Derek Seifert) see less
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The McDonald Army Health Center pharmacy introduced 60 restaurant-style pagers to better help with long lines and wait times June 15, 2020.
The pagers expand the pharmacy’s threshold for the number of patients it can provide service to on a daily basis. The inside lobby holds 12 patients while up to six can be at the windows at any given time, along with 60 patients with pagers.
“The main pharmacy has to change its operations because as the military begins to open up the clinics, we still have to maintain social distancing and the number of people in one area in response to COVID,” said U.S. Army Maj. Travis Whiteside, McDonald Army Health Center, chief department of pharmacy. “The pharmacy is stuck with a conundrum where, what do we do with curbside service? So, what we’re doing here is using restaurant-style pagers. The patients with the pagers can go to the commissary or other appointments while waiting to be called.”
On a busy day, patients could be waiting up to an hour and a half in line at the pharmacy. With the use of the pagers that can be reached up to a mile away and paged multiple times, patients can go to other appointments on post and go shopping while still being in line at the pharmacy.
For more information, call the McDonald Army Health Center Pharmacy at 757-314-7900.
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