Pike Creek Walgreens without air-conditioning for weeks
Employees and customers of a Pike Creek drug store that’s been without a working air conditioner for weeks could get relief soon.
The Walgreens at 4575 New Linden Hill Road store has had a broken unit since at least Memorial Day, said Phil Caruso, a company spokesman. Some workers at the location, who did not want to be identified, said the outage occurred in early May.
Several fans have been used to cool the store. The location is in a strip mall, but no other adjacent businesses are affected. On Saturday, when temperatures outside reached 88 degrees, chocolate bars at the cash register were liquified from the heat and a pharmacist dabbed sweat from his brow.
“I went in there and every associate was dripping with sweat,” said Hockessin resident Michael Howe, who shops at the store weekly. “I started about a month ago complaining about how it was hot in there.”
Howe said the cashier offered customers free water.
“I just felt really bad for the people working there,” Howe said.
Caruso said the situation is “not typical.” Walgreens has more than 8,200 stores and is the largest drugstore chain in the U.S.
“Our team members in that store have done an exceptional job of serving our customers. They understand the need to remain open. We know it is hot, but we understand the need for our patients to have access in that area,” Caruso said.
Caruso said the problem is due in part to the store being smaller than a typical Walgreens and having only one air-cooling unit. Walgreens acquired the branch as part of its purchase of Happy Harry’s in 2007 and had to work with the chain’s previous vendor to fix the unit, he said. They also had to build custom housings, he said.
“Crews are going to be working through the weekend and we expect it to be installed early next week,” Caruso said.
Caruso said the heat is not harming pharmaceuticals. “It would have to be extreme heat (to affect the medicine). Most of the medicine can withstand heat and cold temperatures,” Caruso said.
Caruso said the store had refrigerators available for any medications that require cold temperatures.
Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.
Filed under: General Problems
“What does extreme heat do to medications? I found out while we were sweating out the recent heat wave in a lake cabin in New Hampshire and my 10-year-old son’s allergies kicked up.
I gave him a dose of over-the-counter medicine that usually brings quick relief. But this time the drug had no effect. The same thing happened the next day, and the next…
And that’s when I learned this: No drug should be exposed to temperatures higher than 86 degrees.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/health/16consumer.html?_r=0