Neighborhood group visits Diplomat Pharmacy

Members of the South Side Business and Residential Association toured Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy's Atherton Road headquarters Nov. 15 and held their business meeting in the organization's conference room.

Senior Vice President Jeff Rowe conducted the tour through the newly remodeled 350,000 square-foot building in the Great Lakes Distribution Center. According to reports in the Flint Journal the company made a $7 million investment in the facility that houses an executive and administrative staff, a patient care call center and a staff of about 500 employees. A cafeteria offers food and take-home meals for employees, and a wellness coordinator runs fitness classes in a fully equipped exercise room.

The center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Prescriptions for highly specialized drugs are filled on a computer operated assembly line where robots count out medications. According to Rowe, about 60 percent of the medicines shipped from their facility require refrigeration.

"The average cost of a prescription is from $7,000 to $10,000," Rowe explained.

The most frequent prescriptions filled are for oral cancer medicines.

Some of the newly renovated space is still empty. Rowe said the company plans to hire more employees. Applications for employment are accepted at Flint's Career Alliance.

Rowe said the company urges all its employees to become certified pharmacy technicians and provides online learning and classes for current employees.

"One hundred percent of our employees who took the pharmacy technology class passed," Rowe added. "It's like a mini-college degree and extremely helpful to anyone talking with a patient or handling drugs."

In other matters, Tammy Self, city blight officer, explained that from July through October 134 properties in Ward 9 had been cleared of blight.

"More than 1,400 tires were disposed of citywide at a cost to the city of $4.50 per tire," Self said.

Members of the group expressed concerns that these retrieved tires are re-appearing in the city and questioned how they could be uniquely marked to prohibit their reappearance.

Self also explained that 481 blight violations were recorded for properties owned by the Genesee County Land Bank.

President Art Wenzlaff announced Flint International Academy's annual free Thanksgiving dinner would take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 24 at the school. Boxed food will also be provided for guests to take home. Bus service is available at St. Michael's Catholic Church, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church and Carriage Town Ministries.

The school is also holding a free food distribution on Dec. 27.

The group will meet next at 11:45 a.m. Dec. 21 at Applegate Chevrolet, 3637 S. Saginaw St.