MEIJER GIVES BACK – Meijer pharmacies marked a major milestone late last month when the retailer’s free prescription program hit 30 million prescriptions dispensed – 6 million alone in 2015 – since October 2006 when the program launched. The program has saved customers more than $422 million, said Nat Love, vice president of pharmacy for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer.
“Meijer is a family-owned company committed to meeting the needs of other families,” Love said. “We do this by providing positive solutions to everyday problems, which includes access to necessary medications. We began our free prescription program with that in mind, and are pleased that so many families across the Midwest continue to find it valuable.”
The retailer’s free prescription program helps ensure the health of families and individuals by enabling Meijer customers, regardless of insurance or co-pay, to have their prescriptions filled. The program began by covering leading oral generic antibiotics, with a special focus on the prescription most often filled for children. The program expanded over the years by offering free prenatal vitamins in May 2008; metformin, the most commonly-prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes, in 2010; and atorvastatin calcium, the generic substitute for Lipitor®*, the cholesterol-lowering medication, in 2012, Love said.
NEW LEADERSHIP FOR OHIO RELEASES FUNDRAISING TOTAL – A group of prominent Ohioans that formed “New Leadership for Ohio,” a Super PAC supporting Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld’s bid for the United States Senate, recently released their fundraising total for the end of 2015.
Paul De Marco, a Cincinnati lawyer and long-time Democratic activist who serves as Chairman of the Super PAC, reported that New Leadership for Ohio raised $733,501 dollars over the last three and a half months. De Marco said: “The substantial amount of money we’ve been able to raise over just the past few months demonstrates that Ohio Democrats want new leaders with new ideas, not the same tired politicians whose willingness — even eagerness — to abandon Democratic values has disappointed Ohio Democrats time and again.”
De Marco continued: “We’ve recently seen that Rob Portman is so beholden to the NRA he shares their bizarre position that suspected terrorists should be allowed to buy assault weapons in this country. Democrats in Ohio won’t be able to make the case that this puts Portman on the fringe if we nominate Ted Strickland, whose close ties to the NRA earned him their highest rating – an A+ — the last time he ran. No wonder Ted Strickland is ducking debates with P.G. Sittenfeld and hiding from the voters of Ohio. He can’t defend his long-standing positions on issues such as guns that Ohio Democrats care deeply about.”
ASHLAND DIRECTOR HONORED – Matthew Portner, director of auxiliary services at Ashland University, has earned the Certified Auxiliary Services Professional (CASP) designation from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS), the largest auxiliary services support organization serving higher education.
“I want to personally extend my congratulations to Matthew,” said Dr. Eleanor Mower, interim CEO of NACAS. “CASP is the premier designation for higher education auxiliary and ancillary services. It demonstrates that the recipients meet an advanced standard of expertise and are among the best and the brightest of our industry.”
CASP is a four-year certification for aspiring Auxiliary Services professionals. It is the only certification that demonstrates recipients have met a high standard of excellence, as defined by experts in the industry, and that they have the skills necessary to be a director of auxiliary services.
