The pharmacy at Evergreen: Western New York’s leading PrEP provider

In 2011, Evergreen Health opened a full-service in-house pharmacy so that our patients, and the rest of the community, could get the unconditionally understanding and welcoming experience they expect at Evergreen when they need to visit their pharmacy, too.

Having a pharmacy in-house helps us break down many of the barriers that people face when trying to access the medications they need. First of all, our pharmacy team communicates directly with our providers at Evergreen to get patients’ refills authorized, letting folks get medications on time without having to go through the hassle of calling their provider for a refill and waiting on line at the big box pharmacy.

Just getting to the pharmacy for refills is another barrier that sometimes makes it hard for people to access their medications – one that we’re happy to help with. The pharmacy at Evergreen offers free home delivery to all our pharmacy patients, and can usually work in same-day deliveries when needed. And for patients who are uninsured or under-insured, our financial counseling team is able to help. Nobody is turned away from getting the medications they need for a lack of money.

Though the pharmacy at Evergreen is open to the community (not just to Evergreen patients), and provides medications to people facing a huge variety of health needs, our pharmacists specialize in HIV care and prevention medications, a field that’s constantly evolving. “We’re at the forefront of HIV knowledge,” says Nicholas Maggi, associate vice president of pharmacy services at Evergreen.

People living with HIV face even more challenges when it comes to caring for their health with medications. While lots of people struggle with taking their medications as directed for various reasons, for people living with HIV, taking medications as prescribed (also known as “medication adherence”) is absolutely essential to keeping an undetectable viral load, meaning the virus can’t transmitted through sex.

These medications that allow people living with HIV to reach an undetectable viral load, called antiretroviral therapy (ART), work directly on the HIV virus to stop its attack on the patient’s immune system and prevents furthering the diagnosis to AIDS. This is also incredibly important for fighting other illnesses like the flu or COVID-19.

Studies have found that pharmacies that specialize in HIV care are better able to address the barriers to medication adherence that patients with HIV face: patients living with HIV tend to have more welcoming and stigma-free interactions at specialty pharmacies like Evergreen, and are reassured by our pharmacists’ specialized knowledge of drug interactions and side-effects.

We’re also able to address specific challenges that people who take anti-retroviral therapy medications face, like keeping track of multiple medications throughout the day, with tools like Rapid Paks: Pill Packs that our pharmacists organize and label by the day and time each medication should be taken. Pill Packs are free for any patient who takes medications that are filled by the Pharmacy at Evergreen – call or stop by the pharmacy to learn about if Pill Packs could be helpful for you.

Along with HIV care, the pharmacy at Evergreen specializes in HIV prevention: we’re the leading provider of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) in Western New York. PrEP is a prescription medication that, when taken as prescribed, reduces a person’s risk of becoming HIV positive.

PrEP is right for anyone who wants to take control of their sexual health and reduce their risk of becoming HIV positive – give us a call or visit our website to learn more about if PrEP is right for you. To make sure PrEP is accessible to all our patients, we’ll work through any financial barriers to getting PrEP to anyone who needs it: most people who see an Evergreen provider and use the Evergreen pharmacy pay $0 out of pocket for PrEP.

HIV prevention has come a long way in the 40 years Evergreen has been in the field: though we’ve used many strategies to help people prevent HIV transmission since our start in 1983, when a team of volunteers formed to address the emerging HIV and AIDS crisis in Western New York, PrEP didn’t become available until 2012.

Today, PrEP is a safe medication (most people experience no or minimal side effects) that’s available as either a pill or a periodic injection. In fact, Evergreen Health has largest injectable medication program outside of New York City for the prevention and treatment of HIV: we currently have around 200 patients receiving the injectable versions of PrEP or ART.

As PrEP has developed, we’ve stayed on the frontline of PrEP expertise. Here’s a brief timeline of how the Evergreen pharmacy has grown alongside HIV prevention – visit Evergreen’s historical timeline page for a full history of the organization.

2010

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announce the results of the iPrEx study, showing that a daily dose of HIV drugs reduced the risk of HIV infection among HIV-negative men who have sex with men by 44%, supporting the concept of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in a targeted population.

2011

Evergreen Health opens the pharmacy at Evergreen in order to serve patients with HIV and other specialty care patients, primary care patients, and the general public.

On July 13, a new CDC study (TDF2) and a separate trial (the Partners PrEP study) provide the first evidence that a daily oral dose of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection can also reduce HIV acquisition among uninfected individuals exposed to the virus through heterosexual sex.

2012

On July 16th, the FDA approves the use of Truvada® for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Adults who do not have HIV, but who are at risk for infection, can now take this medication to reduce their risk of getting the virus through sexual activity.

Evergreen begins to self-fund HIV and STI screening for all with support from funds raised by the Evergreen pharmacy.

2014

In partnership with NYSDOH AIDS Institute, Evergreen begins participation in a pilot program for PrEP.

2019

FDA approves Descovy for Pre-Exposure prophylaxis.

2021

FDA approves the first injectable medication for PreP: Apretude.

2022

The pharmacy at Evergreen provided PrEP medications to 1,147 patients in 2022.