A pharmacy is set to soon close after nearly two decades in rural Centre County
One of the only drugstores in Penns Valley plans to close by the end of the month, a blow to the rural area that leaves some of the most vulnerable populations with few options to obtain medication and other health care services.
Penns Valley Pharmacy is scheduled to close April 29. Closing the independent, locally-owned pharmacy after nearly two decades in business was “one of the hardest decisions that I have ever had to make,” owner Nicole Krahling wrote Tuesday in a Facebook post.
“I want to thank all of you for your support throughout the 18 years that I have had the privilege to serve the Penns Valley community,” Krahling wrote. “I will forever be grateful for your friendships and memories.”
It was not clear why the drugstore at 4576 Penns Valley Road plans to close; Krahling could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The nearest pharmacy to the west is about 10 miles away in Potter Township, an about 20-minute drive round trip. The nearest to the east is about nearly 30 miles away in neighboring Union County, more than an hour away.
That a big loss for those who live in the eastern part of the valley, especially older adults, Millheim Borough Council member Robert Zeigler said Wednesday.
“You had a really good place that’s like a hub of the eastern part of Penns Valley that’s missing now. It’s a shame,” Zeigler said. “... You’re missing a key pillar of the community there.”
More than 16% of independently owned rural pharmacies in the United States closed between 2003 and 2018, according to a July 2018 policy brief published by the Rural Policy Research Institute Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis.
That’s years before the pandemic uprooted nearly every facet of everyday life.
“It’s going to be inconvenient for the elderly, the Amish because now they’ll have to go either to Centre Hall or out of the area for their drugs,” Penn Township secretary and treasurer Barbara Shaffer said.
Added Haines Township Board of Supervisors Chairman Daryl Schafer: “It’s definitely going to be a loss.”