Publix Teams With BayCare Health Systems on Pharmacies

Publix Super Markets has opened retail pharmacies within BayCare Health System hospitals in Florida, in the first phase of an exclusive three-part collaboration between the grocer and the health care provider. The pharmacies are located at St. Anthony’s Hospital’s Suncoast Medical Clinic in St. Petersburg, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, and Morton Plant Hospital’s new Doyle Tower in Clearwater, with additional locations slated to open at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor and Winter Haven Hospital.

Among the Publix pharmacy services offered at BayCare are providing patients with bedside prescription delivery upon hospital discharge, access to specialty medications, and refills at any of the grocer’s pharmacies.

“Opening BayCare in-hospital pharmacies is part of the exciting collaboration we announced in March,” said Fred Ottolino, VP of pharmacy operations at Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix. “It isn’t just about filling prescriptions as patients leave the hospital; it’s about providing a continuum of convenient medical care. As our relationship grows, we hope to bring even more care options to both BayCare patients and Publix customers.”

“We are excited about this important step in providing seamless, connected care that improves health and care delivery,” said Glenn Waters, EVP/COO at Clearwater-based BayCare, a not-for-profit health care system with 14 hospitals. “Our care doesn’t end when a patient leaves a BayCare hospital, and neither should our medication management for our patients. The Publix operation of on-site hospital retail pharmacies will facilitate the opportunity for continuity of medication management as patients are discharged from our hospitals.”

Additionally, by the end of 2017, all Publix stores in Florida’s Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk counties will offer BayCare HealthHubs. These self-service biometric screening kiosks will provide users with free health information such as blood pressure, pulse, weight and body mass index, and BayCare patients can send the results directly to their physician from the HealthHub.

Further, within the next two years, around 25 walk-in telehealth clinics will roll out in Publix stores across the four-county area. Each clinic will provide non-urgent medical care via remote access to board-certified physicians. Patients will communicate with physicians in a private room featuring teleconferencing and medical diagnostic equipment. Publix Pharmacy support staff will be on hand to assist patients if necessary.

“Having an additional option for non-urgent medical care in Publix stores provides a quick and easy alternative for customers to seek treatment for non-urgent conditions,” noted Ottolino. “We are excited to partner with BayCare to provide this innovative offering as we continue to expand our pharmacy services.”

“We are focused on helping individuals access the right level of care in the right place and this collaboration does just that,” added Waters. “BayCare believes that making access to health care more convenient through community partnerships is essential to improving the health of our community.”

As part of its commitment to providing health care services in its home state, Publix has also opened pharmacies within Nemours Children’s Health System facilities.

Publix currently operates more than 1,000 pharmacies in seven southeast states. After opening its fifth BayCare pharmacy, the retailer will have 10 locations within Florida hospitals. Privately owned and operated by its more than 187,000 associates, the company has 1,155 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.