Pawling gets its pharmacy back following fire in temporary pod form
CVS team members said establishing a temporary pharmacy after the July 4th fire was especially important in Pawling since other options are not as accessible.
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Staff of Pawling’s CVS Pharmacy are back to filling prescriptions out of a temporary pod facility on East Main Street, right next to the wreckage of the pharmacy’s previous location.
One regular customer said that after a fire gutted CVS’s building on July 4, she made plans to fill an important prescription at another pharmacy outside of the village.
Something went wrong with the transfer. She came to the CVS pod Wednesday morning to try to clear it up.
"I've already been switched over to another one and they said they haven't got it. It's gone to CVS,” pharmacy customer Jo said. “I don't know what's going to happen until I get there."
Witnesses to the fire previously told News 12 that as high winds blew through the village in the early evening. A sparking transformer appeared to cause the fire.
CVS team members on site Wednesday morning were resolving some connectivity issues ahead of a soft launch later in the day. They said establishing a temporary pharmacy was especially important in Pawling since other options are not as accessible.
CVS is the only pharmacy in the village.
“We’re pleased to once again provide pharmacy care and services to the Pawling community while we work toward a permanent location," a spokesperson for CVS stated.
Johnpaul Ragusa, owner of The Imperial Castle Toy Store just across East Main from CVS, was one of many locals who referred to the chain location as “a neighborhood pharmacy.”
Ragusa said the CVS has generated significant walk-in business for the shop. He hopes that business returns.
"This first thing you think about is A. I hope everyone is alright,” he said of the fire, “And then B. trying to figure out a strategy for how the business is going to survive with the absence of such a big business right next to you."
It is unclear when CVS will open a new store in the village.
Customers of the new temporary pharmacy will be able to buy over-the-counter medications and receive vaccinations.
Other items like food, household goods and beauty products are not available for sale because there is not enough space, a CVS team member said.
