When the last pharmacy closes | Morning Newsletter

It’s a beautifully sunny Sunday with a high near 46.

Enjoying the recent warm-up? Philly may see more above-normal temperatures through the first half of February, but the second half may take an icy turn and bring more wintry weather back to the region.

Dozens of pharmacies have closed in recent months in the Philadelphia region and nationwide, forcing customers who relied on the proximity of their neighborhood pharmacy to cobble together solutions.

Our lead story highlights what happened after the last chain pharmacy shut its doors in one Philly neighborhood. It’s the first installment of a two-part Inquirer project on what happens when local pharmacies close.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Ronald and Onelia Doughty take dozens of medications between them for various health conditions. They joke that they have their own pharmacy inside their Grays Ferry home.

But to get those medications, Ronald, who walks with a cane, now has to get a bus to South Broad Street or borrow a car from his son who lives in West Philadelphia. “I’ve got heart problems, lung problems. … It was hard enough for me to walk around the corner,” said Ronald Doughty.

Their neighborhood Rite Aid was among those that closed last fall, leaving the Doughtys and others like them feeling abandoned and forgotten.

Catch up quick: Philadelphia-based Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October, then recently shuttered dozens of stores across the region — some in lower-income areas and others in more affluent suburbs. More remote areas in central Pennsylvania and New Jersey have also been impacted.

Not just Rite Aid: CVS recently announced it would close dozens of its pharmacies inside Targets early this year. Nationwide, pharmacies have struggled with decreased reimbursements, staffing shortages, and other issues. Independent pharmacists are also fighting burnout and industry pressures as more legacy stores close and dispensing medications becomes less profitable.

For communities that already feel underserved, a pharmacy’s closure can feel personal. Their stories represent a snapshot of the reverberations that are occurring across the region and the country as more pharmacies shutter.

Read on to hear more from South Philly residents on the challenges they face due to these closures and from experts on potential policy solutions.

There’s a new kid coming to the PBS cartoon neighborhood, and a bunch of Philly kids have her back.

Lyla in the Loop is a new PBS Kids series set to premiere nationally on Monday. It focuses on 7-year-old Lyla Loops, a young Black girl living life in the big city with her three siblings, mother, and father who run Loops Lunch diner.

In the show, Lyla gets into all sorts of adventures and misadventures with her best friend and sidekick, and they use creative thinking and strategic problem-solving to work their way through it all.

Series creator and executive producer Dave Peth didn’t have to look far for inspiration — he and his family live in South Philly. And getting students from a neighborhood Philadelphia school district to sing Lyla’s song just made sense.

Listen to the song and learn how Philly children got involved in its making.

In the latest edition of Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan’s food column, he says the best thing he ate this week was:

A) the panzerotti at Paffuto

B) the u-maki rolls at Yuhiro Omakase Sushi

C) the Couscous Royale at Sofi Corner

D) the Esca-Roll at My Loup

Think you know? Check your answer here.

Hint: Remembering the linebacker-turned-actor who starred as Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies 🕊️

CLEAR WREATHS

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Judy Pidgeon, who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Nat King Cole.

🎶 Today’s Sunday track goes like this: “I lay in silence, but silence talks / It tells me heaven is no closer than it was.”

👋🏽 Now that we’re all caught up on the news, it’s a good day to have a good day. I’m making a game plan to explore West Philly’s Cedar Park.