HealthPartners, a nonprofit healthcare provider and insurer in Bloomington, Minn., will close all of its retail pharmacies and shut down its mail-order pharmacy operations next year, according to the Pioneer Press.
As a result, about 300 people will lose their jobs, including 100 pharmacists.
The closure will include 30 retail pharmacies within HealthPartners and three of its medical clinics: Park Nicollet Clinic and Central Minnesota Clinic in Minneapolis and Stillwater (Minn.) Medical Group Clinic.
The decision to close its retail pharmacies is a result of economic shifts that favor larger, chain pharmacies "able to support extended hours, drive-thru pickup and other conveniences that we're not able to offer," Scott Schnuckle, senior vice president for pharmacy business at HealthPartners, told the Pioneer Press.
The pharmacies inside medical clinics will close Jan. 20. Health Partners retail pharmacies will close April 1.
HealthPartners will continue to operate its specialty, infusion and in-house hospital pharmacies.