Apparently, K-Med, a family-owned pharmacy in Kalamazoo, has shut its doors.

I was browsing the Nextdoor app when I came across a post from a Pat Huston that said,

K-Med is CLOSED. They have transferred their prescriptions to Walgreen and their phone number automatically rings at Walgreens. There is a sign on their door stating this info too. I did not receive any direct information about this from them — I had recently switched from Walgreens to K-Med. Am now at Costco looking into their pharmacy after having unusually good service in all other areas (vision, hearing, general quality and courtesy).

Sure enough, Google says they are permanently closed, their website seems to be down, and the official Facebook page for the business has also vanished. I also tested what Pat Huston wrote and called the number listed for K-Med Pharmacy. It does, indeed, connect you directly to Walgreens.

Operating off of Drake Road, I would love to give a background of the business but, since their website is down, finding a history is pretty much impossible. A Google Maps street view from 2017 does show an image of K-Med with a "now open" sign in the window so, it's safe to assume they've been open for at least a few years.

But, why did their closure feel so sudden? A comment on the above-mentioned Nextdoor post may shed some light.

Patricia McGinnis said,

Letters went out for we received ours Saturday. I work for a Primary Care doctor and we found out that Walgreens bought them out because all the insurance companies made them out of network last month for patients insurance. Very sad that the insurances are taking over these small home town pharmacies and wanting patients to use the “big box” pharmacies.

Not that I have a lot of stake in what happens to locally-owned pharmacies but, man...what a bummer. Especially since it sounds like there wasn't much K-Med could do about it. If insurance companies exclude you as a pharmacy, how are customers supposed to be able to afford to buy their medications from said pharmacy? Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Wherever the owners of K-Med are today, I wish you luck in your future endeavors.

If you were a customer of K-Med Pharmacy, contact Walgreens to inquire about the status of any soon-to-be-due prescriptions and more. Not sure which one to call? You can dial K-Med's old number: 269-888-4488.

It's always a sad day when we learn of a local business closing. K-Med Pharmacy is hardly the first...

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