When Hurricane Matthew caused severe flooding in and around the eastern part of North Carolina in early October, the staff of Southern Pharmacy’s Pink Hill location soon realized it would be impossible for them to deliver medication to customers in their southern and western delivery areas.
Many of the roads between the pharmacy, customer locations and employees’ homes were washed out or otherwise impassable, closing many delivery routes and preventing some Pink Hill employees from getting to work. With the help of the Kernersville location and the North Carolina National Guard, Pink Hill made sure customer facilities would be serviced.
Working together, management of both Pink Hill and Kernersville identified which Pink Hill facilities could be reached by Kernersville. Once identified, three temporary delivery routes were set up out of Kernersville, and staff drivers from Pink Hill drove their vans across the state to join the Kernersville’s team for the week.
Pink Hill Assistant Driver Supervisor Barry Seay and Driver Supervisor Duane Dinius with a North Carolina NG truck used to carry meds through flooded areas.
Pink Hill employee loading medication totes onto NCNG truck.
The North Carolina National Guard was contacted to help get medicine deliveries through the severely flooded area. On the other side of those areas, the crucial cargo was met by Pink Hill drivers who could complete the routes. Everyone worked together diligently to accomplish this huge task. The Kernersville location processed over 500 additional orders each day to meet the demand, and both location’s employees worked tirelessly to make sure the job was done.
Resident medications loaded on NCNG truck ready for transport.
“Taking care of our customers is our primary responsibility,” SPS President Marybeth Terry said. “We were also very concerned about our employees working in Pink Hill since many of them were directly impacted by the flood.”
NCNG truck, carrying Southern’s medication delivery, passes through flood waters.
Despite the challenges faced, everyone made sure that each facility’s needs were taken care of.
Terry added, “A big ‘THANK YOU’ goes to the NC National Guard, The Red Cross and our Pink Hill and Kernersville employees. It’s all about teamwork.”
