Wakefern Food Corp. plans to open a centralized pharmacy fulfillment center that will fill prescriptions for 149 ShopRite stores and two The Fresh Grocer locations in the Northeast.
The retailer-owned supermarket cooperative headquartered in Keasbey is partnering with iA, a Binghamton, New York-based pharmacy fulfillment technology company, on the project. The 12,000-square-foot facility will open early next year at an undisclosed Wakefern location.
The facility will handle prescription dispensing and other back-office pharmacy operations, allowing pharmacists at individual stores to spend more time with patients, including answering questions and providing nutrition information.
Wakefern plans to hire additional employees to operate the center, which is expected to fill thousands of prescriptions each day.
The system also will work with ShopRite's digital pharmacy tools, including the ShopRite Rx app, which allows customers to manage prescriptions and request refills.
The move comes as retail pharmacies face reimbursement challenges, a growing number of prescriptions, and increasing operational complexity. Centralized fulfillment systems allow pharmacy operators to consolidate some dispensing operations while freeing store-based pharmacists to focus on patient care.
“Our ShopRite Pharmacies sit at a unique intersection of medicine and food — two essential drivers of everyday health,” said Aaron Sapp, vice president of Pharmacy and Wellness at Wakefern. “This centralized fulfillment system will help better coordinate our behind-the-scenes pharmacy operations, allowing our pharmacy teams to focus on delivering more personalized care to the customers we serve in stores every day.”
Wakefern is the largest retailer-owned supermarket cooperative in the United States. Its member companies independently own and operate nearly 380 supermarkets under the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage, Fairway Market, Di Bruno Bros. and Morton Williams banners. Its members operate 151 in-store pharmacies.
Tom Utech, CEO of iA, said the centralized system is designed to improve efficiency and give pharmacy staff more time to focus on patients.
