MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - “Why is there always a line at the pharmacy?” If you’ve been in the service long enough, I’m sure you’ve heard this or a similar complaint or perhaps you’ve even said it yourself. That’s a legitimate question. I can’t speak for the rest of the Air Force, but I can assure you that it’s not due to our personnel taking naps in the backroom -- your MacDill Pharmacy is undeniably an operation like no other.
To begin with, did you know that more than 215,000 eligible beneficiaries can access our pharmacy services? That’s the greatest scope of responsibility for any single unit within the entire Department of Defense! To meet that enormous demand, your pharmacy operates four geographically separated sites: the Main Pharmacy in the medical group building, the Refill Pharmacy, PharmaCARE and the Brandon Pharmacy. Manning these locations are 15 committed pharmacists, 40 skilled pharmacy technicians and 55 selfless volunteers – a number that balloons to 78 during the height of “snowbird” season.
By closely coordinating their activities, fielding 400 phone calls per day, communicating with hundreds of military and civilian medical providers and leveraging cutting edge technology to maximize efficiency and safety, pharmacy personnel are able to accomplish their primary mission: getting the correct medication to the correct patient, every time. Our team does this while dispensing more than 580,000 prescriptions, worth 28 million dollars, every year. To put that in perspective, your typical local pharmacy will fill just over 36,000 prescriptions over the same period – your MacDill pharmacy is 16 times busier.
Whether you’re active duty, retired, or a dependent of either, please know that it’s not only our honor to serve, it’s our honor to serve you. So next time you’re waiting in line at the pharmacy, know that we are working as fast, and safely, as we can.