As part of a record-breaking month for NACDS RxIMPACT, Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) toured a Jewel-Osco Pharmacy August 23 in McHenry, Ill. (left to right) Dana Smith (store director), Denise Coli (pharmacy manager), Rep. Hultgren, Ryan McCann (director of Pharmacy Operations).
Members of Congress leave Washington, D.C. every year during August for their summer recess, which provides an excellent opportunity for the NACDS RxIMPACT program to kick into high gear. Lawmakers are back in their home districts during this time, which has proved to be extremely productive for grassroots advocacy. NACDS RxIMPACT hosted a record-breaking 20 pharmacy tours this week alone—a 34 percent increase in tours hosted in just one week. There are 35 scheduled pharmacy tours from the beginning of this month through the end of this week, which is impressive given that the total number of pharmacy tours from January through July was 45. Next week NACDS RxIMPACT has nearly ten pharmacy tours scheduled for the remaining days in August.
Reports from the field have been extremely positive. NACDS.org has articles on recent pharmacy tours with Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s staff, Rep. Cory Garner and Rep. Todd Budd.
Other NACDS RxIMPACT Pharmacy Tours scheduled for this week:
- Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) will tour a Fred’s Pharmacy in Jonesboro, Ark. and a staff member from the office of the Senate Armed
Services Committee Member Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) will tour a Walmart pharmacy in Charlotte, N.C., on August 25. - On August 24, The Kroger Co. hosted a pharmacy tour for a staff member of newly-elected Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) in Las Vegas; Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) participated in a CVS Health pharmacy tour in Camarillo, Ca.; Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) toured a Costco pharmacy in Boca Raton, Fla.; a staff member for Senate Finance Committee Chair and Senate HELP Committee Member Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) toured Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company, in Salt Lake City; and a staff member for Rep. Jeff Denham (R-CA) participated in an Albertsons Companies pharmacy tour in Modesto, Ca.
- On August 23, Hy-Vee, Inc. hosted a tour for a staff member for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) in Fitchburg, Wisc.; a staff member for Sen. John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY) participated in a Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company, tour in Casper, Wyo.; and a staff member for Senate Finance Committee Member Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) toured a CVS Health pharmacy in Richmond, Va.
- On August 22, a staff member for Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) participated in an Ahold USA pharmacy tour in Pawtucket, R.I.
- On August 21, Hy-Vee, Inc. hosted a tour for a staff member of Senate Finance Committee Member Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) in Des Moines, Iowa; The Kroger Co. hosted a tour for a staff member for Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) in Grovetown, Ga.; Brookshire Grocery Co. hosted a pharmacy tour for a staff member of newly-elected Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) in Lafayette, La.; a staff member for Senate Armed Services Committee Member Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) toured a Walmart pharmacy in Anchorage, Alaska; and Rite Aid Corporation hosted a pharmacy tour for newly-elected Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) in Doylestown, Pa.
