Walmart is cutting pharamcy hours starting in March. Photo: Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Pharmacy hours at Walmart and CVS will be reduced starting in March as the major retailers continue to deal with a nationwide shortage of pharmacy staff.
Driving the news: Walmart confirmed to Axios that its pharmacies will close at 7pm weekdays, which is two hours earlier than the current closing time of 9pm. Weekend hours will stay the same, the company said.
- CVS will cut or shift hours at about two-thirds of its roughly 9,000 U.S. locations starting in March, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
- "By adjusting hours in select stores this spring, we ensure our pharmacy teams are available to serve patients when they’re most needed," CVS said in a statement to Axios.
- Last year, CVS started closing most of its pharmacies companywide from 1:30-2pm every day to give staff a daily lunch break.
The big picture: Workforce retention and burnout have been a huge problem across every segment of health care — particularly amid the great resignation and the stressors of the pandemic, Axios’ Tina Reed reports.
- A summer 2022 survey by the National Community Pharmacists Association found that 76% of independent community pharmacies were having a "difficult time" filling staff positions.
Meanwhile, Walgreens' struggles with labor shortages have forced some of its pharmacies to limit hours, the company said in October.
- Walgreens also recently enlisted the help of "robots," rolling out a network of automated facilities to fill prescriptions.
Yes, but: Walgreens told Axios Friday that it has "seen positive staffing trends for the past several months as we work to return more stores to normal operating hours."
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information.
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