Rural S.D. pharmacy relies on tourism to stay open for locals who need it

Transcript

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

It's not easy for rural pharmacies to stay open, especially independent ones. And if a drug store closes, that can leave entire counties unserved. In South Dakota, one rural pharmacy has turned itself into a tourist attraction to help keep its doors open for locals who depend on it. Arielle Zionts with our partner KFF Health News brings us the story.

ARIELLE ZIONTS: Colorful hand-painted signs dot Interstate 90 for hundreds of miles across three states, telling drivers how far they are from Wall Drug. It draws more than 2 million visitors each year to a town of fewer than 700 people. The Wall Drug pharmacy has been open for almost 100 years. Wall Drug, the tourist attraction, now takes up nearly an entire block. It's kind of like a Western-themed amusement-filled mall. Wall Drug advertises its free ice water and five-cent coffee. Visitors can pan for gold and shop for souvenirs like plush jackalopes, mythical jackrabbits with antelope horns. Tourist Alex Davis decided to visit Wall Drug during a road trip to Yellowstone National Park.

ALEX DAVIS: When I saw there was a little pharmacy, I thought I'd grab something that I needed.

OK, just that.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And everything OK?

DAVIS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: All right.

ZIONTS: She bought Dramamine to treat car sickness. The pharmacy is sandwiched between the fudge shop and the rock and mineral shop within Wall Drug. It's a real pharmacy, one tourist said walking by. And it's Stacey Schulz's local pharmacy.

STACEY SCHULZ: Well, during the summer, it's kind of hectic.

ZIONTS: Schulz lives in town and works at the local health clinic, where she sees a lot of summer tourists. When they need prescriptions, she sends them to Wall Drug.

SCHULZ: And then we tell them to get fudge before they leave (laughter).

ZIONTS: Schulz is on a first-name basis with the pharmacy staff.

SCHULZ: Yeah. I know Cindy (laughter). Our kids are friends.

ZIONTS: Cindy Dinger is Wall Drug's sole pharmacist. She said the pharmacy would struggle to survive on its own without the tourist attraction.

CINDY DINGER: All this stuff around us, you know, the poster and print shop, the boot shop, the fudge shop, the cafe - they pay our bills.

ZIONTS: Those bills are higher for independent drug stores because they can't negotiate the same medication discounts as big chains. And staffing is a major challenge for rural pharmacies. Dinger is the only pharmacist who lives in Wall. To take a sick day, she needs a fill-in from Rapid City, nearly an hour away.

DINGER: You know, to just cover my relief, but, you know, you take what you can get and try to schedule around it, and hopefully it all works out.

DINGER: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Thank you.

ZIONTS: Wall Drug is a lifeline for locals, whether they need routine medication or treatment for something more unusual. Dinger once gave antibiotics to a park ranger who was bitten by a prairie dog.

DINGER: You never know what kind of diseases they might be carrying.

ZIONTS: Without Wall Drug, prairie dog bite victims would be in trouble. The National Park Service is warning the public that some of the animals carry the plague.

I'm Arielle Zionts in Wall, S.D. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.