Medicine Bank provides
treatment for 16,000 during
its inaugural yearA drive hopes to amass pharmaceuticals
By Helen Altonn
for all 50,000 eligible patients
Star-BulletinAn estimated 16,000 patients were treated with medicine the past year that they couldn't afford.
They got it free from The Medicine Bank, established under state legislation in August 1997 by the Hawaii State Primary Care Association.
But it isn't a public service for anyone who wants to apply for medicine, Medicine Bank Director Pam Christoffel said. Recipients must be patients at the state's 10 community health centers.
In its first year of operation, the Medicine Bank received pharmaceuticals and supplies worth about $750,000 in wholesale value, she said.
However, she said, "We never have enough. We have at least 50,000 patients eligible for these medicines -- uninsured and underinsured patients -- and I was only able to help 16,000."
To meet the growing needs, the Medicine Bank is holding a drive for pharmaceutical donations Sept. 12-19.
Physicians and pharmacies are urged to donate medicines that community health center doctors can prescribe for needy families, the homeless, immigrants, mentally ill and seniors. Some medicines are extremely costly and Medicare doesn't cover drugs, Christoffel noted.
Cash donations also are requested for a Gift Medicine Fund to assist people with medications not available in the bank, she said. Checks can be made to the Medicine Bank and sent to 345 Queen St., Suite 702, Honolulu, HI 96813.
The Gift Medicine Fund raised about $30,000 in its first year, kicked off with a $10,000 grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. The fund recently received $15,000 from the Hawaii Medical Services Association Foundation.
Christoffel said the Medicine Bank contacted about 250 physicians the past year and more than 100 donated medicines, some many times.
Wholesale drug distributors, drug manufacturers' representatives, pharmacies and others donated pharmaceuticals and health-care supplies such as wheelchairs and other home health equipment.
The bank can't accept expired drugs or controlled substances, Christoffel said.
"We use everything else. There's hardly a thing we haven't been able to use one place or another."
Antibiotics of all kinds, especially for children, are a priority, she said.
Medications for heart, asthma, diabetes and other chronic diseases also are urgently needed, she said.
"We really need asthma inhalers and things like that."
Aloha Airlines and Island Air transport the medicine at no cost to community care centers on the neighbor islands.
Christoffel said the Medicine Bank can't accept medicine offered by families. They are encouraged, instead, to contribute gift medicine checks.
The Medicine Bank has received support from the Department of Health, the Atherton Family Foundation and the Frear Eleemosynary Trust, she said.
Guiding the program is an advisory committee with members of the Hawaii Medical Association, Hawaii Pharmaceutical Association, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Medical Services Representatives and Department of Health.
A volunteer network was set up to assist in Medicine Bank operations. The bank publishes a newsletter and contributes a monthly column to the HMA's Hawaii Medical News.
Christoffel said doctors and drug companies wanting to donate supplies should call her at 536-8442.
