BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

The Los Alamos Reporter reached out on Monday to Aubriana Martindale, Division Corporate Affairs Manager for Smith’s Food & Drug to ask about the situation at Smith’s Marketplace where the pharmacy appears to be understaffed resulting in long lines and delays in filling prescriptions.

“As with many industries, Smith’s is facing unprecedented challenges with the current labor shortage, specifically in outlying communities. Due to the shortage of staff, we have adopted temporary pharmacy hours at the Los Alamos pharmacy of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday,” Martindale said.

She said unfortunately this has resulted in long wait times as pharmacists ensure they are safely and efficiently filling patients’ prescriptions.

“We are actively recruiting and hiring pharmacy staff to remedy the situation, in addition to a pending approved licensure of new pharmacist graduates in the next month or so,” she said. “We encourage customers to use our website (www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/myprescriptions) or the Smith’s app to fill a prescription, check the status of a prescription and sign up for instant notification to help avoid wait times.”

Martindale said Smiths believes the labor shortage is a short term issue and truly appreciates the patience of its customers. The drive through service for the Los Alamos pharmacy has also been suspended.

Anyone interested in working at the pharmacy should contact Smith’s Marketplace management. A current pharmacy employee told the Los Alamos Reporter that staff are doing the best they can under the circumstances. She said being constantly understaffed and facing long lines all day is exhausting and demoralizing. She asked customers to be patient with the staff.