A Day in the Life Of a Pharmacy Tech

At 8:30 a.m. when Pharmacy Technician Alyssia Medina walks into the agency's free pharmacy, she’s listening to voicemails left by patients and providers, checking the queue of medications to be dispensed, starting to print out clients’ prescriptions for the day, and boxing up medications to be taken to the post office by an HHC staff member to be mailed to patients.

Half an hour goes by, and she and the other three pharmacy team members start the marathon of the day when HHC begins serving folks at 9 a.m. The day is nonstop until 4:30 p.m. between the team gathering free prescriptions for patients who drive up, answering incoming patient phone calls, managing pharmacy transfers to and from other pharmacies, calling providers’ offices on behalf of patients,

and getting orders ready to purchase medications for the next day. By the time the week has ended, the pharmacy team typically has filled around 500 prescriptions. 

The HHC Pharmacy provides free prescription medications, focusing on those who are uninsured and underinsured. 

“I know for many of us living in the High Country, we have to decide between medication and other bills that need to be paid. Many times people go without their medications or try to prolong a month's worth of medications into two or three months. For me, it’s a good feeling when we can tell our clients that we are a no-cost pharmacy, but if you feel inclined to make a donation, they can. This takes a huge burden many of our clients feel and puts a smile on their face. In my eyes, I feel like our pharmacy is truly one of a kind,” Alyssia said. 

Alyssia shares that some may find it surprising the time and effort that’s taken to fill a prescription and what medications HHC can order in our pharmacy. To fill a prescription, our team ensures the correct patient, medication, dosage, and quantity is selected throughout the filling process to ensure the patients get the medication their prescriber ordered. Depending on the number of prescriptions a person needs, our pharmacy staff could be working on one patient’s order for 30 minutes. 

“We try to be as quick as possible, but we also want to make sure all our clients leave with the right medications,” Alyssia said. 

The HHC Pharmacy provides generic brand medications to folks to keep costs low, as name brand medications can be more expensive — even for nonprofits like us who are purchasing those medications. If a patient needs a certain name brand medication, they can apply through our Prescription Assistance Program to receive items like name brand inhalers, insulin, blood thinners, and other prescriptions. Our staff is constantly finding ways to fill in the gaps!

Alyssia said her favorite aspect of her role involves investigating a situation to find the best solution for a patient. She may be investigating an alternative medication before speaking with a provider, searching for the best price to order medications, helping someone navigate their insurance before using HHC’s services, or — in the event someone does not qualify for our pharmacy services— assisting them with finding other resources to help them. The staff can also help patients navigate what over-the-counter products may be best for symptoms they’re experiencing.

“There is never a boring day in the pharmacy; every day comes with a problem where I can help our clients find a solution,” Alyssia said.

In August, Alyssia celebrated four years at HHC. Alyssia said the pharmacy’s theme song would be a tie between “Team” by Lorde or “Run The World” by Beyoncé because of the way the four members of the pharmacy team can jump in to help and support each other while ensuring our community is taken care of. She added that she feels lucky to work with such a great team. Next time you see Alyssia, ask her about some of her favorite activities outside of work, like building Legos, going to concerts, and watching Class-B Sci-Fi movies!