Pharmacy Chain Targets Underserved Hispanics
A Bay Area pharmacy chain targeted at Spanish-speaking customers is opening additional stores as part of an effort to expand services to working-class Hispanics in California, who are more likely to be uninsured and encounter barriers to health care than white residents, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Farmacia Remedios seeks to provide Hispanic customers with services that are more personal than a traditional chain drugstore in the U.S., similar to a Mexican pharmacy. In addition, the chain leases space to QuickHealth, an operator of walk-in retail medical clinics, according to Ben Singer, owner of Farmacia Remedios.
Singer said, "Our Hispanic community is not being served the way it's supposed to be." He added, "Our goal is to become the health provider to the Hispanic community."
Farmacia Remedios in 2004 opened its first location in Oakland, followed by two other locations in San Jose and San Francisco. Two more locations in San Jose will open by the end of the year, as well as one in Los Angeles.
The company hopes to reach 25 stores in the next five years (Torres, San Jose Mercury News, 6/11).