Advice for new overnight CVS pharmacist

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samuricool said:
CVS is laying off some overnight pharmacists?
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In the Philly and Pittsburgh regions for sure. We're talking like half of the overnight stores.

Its been a solid half decade of comfort...but the first like 27 years of my life were a series of **** ups and bad luck, so this isn't entirely new to me.
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Owle likes this?
 
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owlegrad said:
Yeah my district lost all 6 overnight positions. Like Mike said, it was nice while it lasted.
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Where are you again? I got people in Ohio, Pittsburgh, and Philly all with the same news. That's 3 different regions. It might be national. If so, that might be 1000 pharmacists nationwide.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Where are you again? I got people in Ohio, Pittsburgh, and Philly all with the same news. That's 3 different regions. It might be national. If so, that might be 1000 pharmacists nationwide.
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It is national, my pharm sup said. FL here. I like that you are going to be OK, not the layoff, LOL
 
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Do you guys know why CVS is laying off so many nightshift workers on a national scale? Are they doing away with overnight hours in general?
 
PAtoPharm said:
Do you guys know why CVS is laying off so many nightshift workers on a national scale? Are they doing away with overnight hours in general?
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Read the transcript of the quarterly earnings call. Wall Street doesn't think they are growing earnings quickly enough. They are going to run the company straight into the ground trying to please those analysts.
 
So basically, they don't think the 24-hr. pharmacy concept is profitable anymore? Are there any other chains besides CVS that hire lots of nightshift pharmacists?
 
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owlegrad said:
Nah walgreens just did this a few months ago.
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That's too bad. So essentially, the 24-hr pharmacy concept is done. Do you know if this has anything to do with the pharmacist oversupply?
 
Was it ever profitable? A pharmacist working solo overnight is taking care of ER scripts and auto-refills. You can argue that both will still be there in the morning. Also, you figure most of the ER scripts are cheap, low days supply pain killers and antibiotics. It is all about perceived convenience. It seems CVS thinks that is overrated.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
In the Philly and Pittsburgh regions for sure. We're talking like half of the overnight stores.

Its been a solid half decade of comfort...but the first like 27 years of my life were a series of **** ups and bad luck, so this isn't entirely new to me.
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Hope things will work out

I am also concerned. Our profession is against the wall and I don't see us coming out fighting hard.
 
M0df said:
Was it ever profitable? A pharmacist working solo overnight is taking care of ER scripts and auto-refills. You can argue that both will still be there in the morning. Also, you figure most of the ER scripts are cheap, low days supply pain killers and antibiotics. It is all about perceived convenience. It seems CVS thinks that is overrated.
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Traditionally it allowed them to negotiate better rates with PBM's. You NEED us in your network. We have hundreds of 24 hour locations. Where else will your members go at 2am?
 
Thought it was in one of CVS' saying that they have the most 24 hours stores? I guess that is not true anymore?

I was one of the graveyards that got moved to daytime (different company). They reduced their 24h to only 1-2 stores in the whole COUNTY. I used to make close to $250k+ LOL. Now, I made lowly ~$150-200k. It was nice with a lot of health drawbacks but I didn't have a life. The store turned into a sh1t storm when the graveyards left, sh1t not getting done, etc. PIC getting moved around because boss thinks they are not competent. They expect the daytime to handle an extra 150-200 rxs and do everything else too. Daytime will definitely feel more work but it is beyond the boss control since the decision is coming from higher up. Company did manage to keep most if not all rphs to have them float at that time or put them in a different stores. There was no massive lay off.

Did they lay off most GY rphs at CVS?
 
owlegrad said:
How many here are still overnight pharmacists at CVS? I suspect not many. :(
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@owlegrad
I transitioned to day shifts about a month ago. Then I quickly realized CVS was a dead end for me and quit a couple of weeks ago. Off to greener grass...
Side note... I didn't have the experience you have described here as an overnight pharmacist. I would walk into 24 pages of red queues every night. It was never quiet. There was urgent care, then patients screaming for early refills for controlled substances at mind night and cleaning up after the day staff would take up all my time. I also had a rather abusive and obnoxious PIC. I just could not stay there any longer. There are plenty of opportunities in non-retail settings, especially if you have a master's in something else, which I do.

How about you? Still with CVS?
 
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Momus said:
Thought it was in one of CVS' saying that they have the most 24 hours stores? I guess that is not true anymore?

I was one of the graveyards that got moved to daytime (different company). They reduced their 24h to only 1-2 stores in the whole COUNTY. I used to make close to $250k+ LOL. Now, I made lowly ~$150-200k. It was nice with a lot of health drawbacks but I didn't have a life. The store turned into a sh1t storm when the graveyards left, sh1t not getting done, etc. PIC getting moved around because boss thinks they are not competent. They expect the daytime to handle an extra 150-200 rxs and do everything else too. Daytime will definitely feel more work but it is beyond the boss control since the decision is coming from higher up. Company did manage to keep most if not all rphs to have them float at that time or put them in a different stores. There was no massive lay off.

Did they lay off most GY rphs at CVS?
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@Momus
Hey there, I am wondering how you made 250K+. If you were working 26 weeks a year (7on 7 off), that is $9,615.38 per week. If you were doing 84 hours then your hourly rate was 114.46? Or maybe you were doing 70 hours? If so, your hourly rate was $137.36.
Really?
 
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Do you guys know when the new hours for CVS take effect? I'm with Kroger and am curious if the CVS down the road is changing.
 
Apotheker2015 said:
@Momus
Hey there, I am wondering how you made 250K+. If you were working 26 weeks a year (7on 7 off), that is $9,615.38 per week. If you were doing 84 hours then your hourly rate was 114.46? Or maybe you were doing hours? If so, your hourly rate was $137.36.
Really?
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I think massive overtime was the answer here!
 
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accordman83 said:
I think massive overtime was the answer here!
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@accordman83
I considered your reasoning and this is why I did not even bother to post it. As you know, we do not get overtime but premium pay if you work > 44 hours/week. That is for daytime pharmacists, at least. It's literally $5 dollars extra. That's it. Now, $250,000/52 weeks = $4,807.70/week and then divided by $60/hour = 80 hours. No human body can take that much. It's impossible.
 
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Apotheker2015 said:
@accordman83
I considered your reasoning and this is why I did not even bother to post it. As you know, we do not get overtime but premium pay if you work > 44 hours/week. That is for daytime pharmacists, at least. Now, $250,000/52 weeks = $4,807.70/week and then divided by $60/hour = 80 hours. No human body can take that much. It's impossible.
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Huh well we still get time and a half over 40 at Kroger but yeah that is still some insane extra time if true
 
CVS is making major cuts but at the same time, they are spending billions to buy back their stocks at a high price.

So now they don't have money for growth and they have to justify the high stock price by making cuts.
 
CVS is not the only company that does this. The fed has kept interest rate at near zero for too long. Companies are borrowing and refinancing their debt for cheap and using that money to back buy their stock and to buy other companies.

This is the result. Instead of using the money for growth, companies are using that money to jack up their stock prices. So what will happen when a company doesn't have money for growth? It needs to squeeze more from their workers in order to justify their high stock price. It needs to increase its profit.
 
I'm an overnight pharmacist at CVS and have never heard about this. When did they notify you guys about the layoffs? When do they take effect? Did they give you an option to become a floater?
 
297point1 said:
Condolences to Owle, Mikey, and anyone else from SDN swept up in this.

What next?
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I am going to use the time to try and break into a non-retail role. If that doesn't work, apply to other retail pharmacies. If that doesn't work, wait for an opening at CVS. I am trying to remain optimistic and think of it as a way to break out of retail. Time will tell.
 
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mikejones123 said:
I'm an overnight pharmacist at CVS and have never heard about this. When did they notify you guys about the layoffs? When do they take effect? Did they give you an option to become a floater?
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I was notified yesterday. In my district, Dec 6th is when it goes into effect. I was given the option of PT floater but because I was 6 out of 6 for seniority there were no full time positions available to me, except in the next district. I wasn't interested in that kind of commute everyday.
 
owlegrad said:
I was notified yesterday. In my district, Dec 6th is when it goes into effect. I was given the option of PT floater but because I was 6 out of 6 for seniority there were no full time positions available to me, except in the next district. I wasn't interested in that kind of commute everyday.
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Can you tell us about your severance? I like the dec 6th date. About 2 weeks after Thanksgiving and 2 weeks before Christmas.
 
BMBiology said:
Can you tell us about your severance? I like the dec 6th date. About 2 weeks after Thanksgiving and 2 weeks before Christmas.
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I can't, because details haven't been released yet. Trust me, I wish I could! I do know it is going to be based on time with the company and you only get it if they don't offer you a job within x miles of your home. It will be on a weekly bases and if anything becomes available during your severance period they will offer you that position and your severance will end.
 
Well...I'm #2 out of 4 being layed off in my district for seniority. So I guess that's good. And the one above me is like 68 years old, so she might just take the severance and retire.

On the bright side, I did the numbers with Obamacare. United Health has a gold plan that's $570 a month for me and the misses with $0 deductible and all our drugs are tier 1, $5 a month. Considering that literally EVERYTHING counts against the giant ass $4000 deductible with CVS's **** plan, its barely going to cost us any more for it over a year. Pfft.
 
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owlegrad said:
I can't, because details haven't been released yet. Trust me, I wish I could! I do know it is going to be based on time with the company and you only get it if they don't offer you a job within x miles of your home. It will be on a weekly bases and if anything becomes available during your severance period they will offer you that position and your severance will end.
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Do you know if they are required you to give you a certain number hours a week? Let's say you have been working full time. Are they required to give you 40 hours a week?
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Well...I'm #2 out of 4 being layed off in my district for seniority. So I guess that's good. And the one above me is like 68 years old, so she might just take the severance and retire.

On the bright side, I did the numbers with Obamacare. United Health has a gold plan that's $570 a month for me and the misses with $0 deductible and all our drugs are tier 1, $5 a month. Considering that literally EVERYTHING counts against the giant ass $4000 deductible, its barely going to cost us any more for it over a year. Pfft.
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Just curious, is the wife also working as a pharmacist?
 
BMBiology said:
Just curious, is the wife also working as a pharmacist?
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Yeah she floats PT for CVS. She turns down a lot of shifts so we can hang out on my off week, so worst comes to worst, I'll have her work as much as possible and we'll still have an income. I can live off $60k a year. Hell, I lived off of $5500 one year back in 2007. That $200 lot rent for my single wide was the bomb diggity.

Heck, if both of us get 20 hours/week in PT work, that's good enough.
 
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BMBiology said:
Do you know if they are required you to give you a certain number hours a week? Let's say you have been working full time. Are they required to give you 40 hours a week?
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The two overnight pharmacists in my district who did get offers were both offered 30 hour FT floater positions.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
I'd take it. That sounds great. Benefits with only 30 hours? No long term responsibility at any pharmacy you go to? Yes, sir.
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WVUPharm2007 said:
Missing out on 401k and ESPP would be the ones that hurt the most.
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I agree on both counts, although recently I have been getting my moneys worth from the health and dental insurance as well. Those can be replaced easily enough I guess though.

I think I would have loved the 30 hour float position. All the benefits for the least amount of work? Sign me up!
 
Sorry to hear your guys loss of work. I was in the same situation in October 2014. Not a lay off, but similar. WVU, you're right. The thing I miss the most are the 401k and the ESPP plans. My money grew like it never grew before in such a short period of time with both plans. For health insurance, after I left CVS, I bought private insurance after looking at the Obamacare website. I paid $188 a month for a high deductible plan for myself for 1 year.

Finding work is never an issue. For someone like you guys WVU and Owle, who have good work experience, you are very marketable. That, and having a good personality and being able to communicate with people just sets you up to find awesome opportunities.
 
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I am hearing CVS is making every effort to not give their PT pharmacists 30 hours a week so they don't qualify for benefits. No health benefits, 401 k, ESSP. Nothing. Something to consider
 
farmadiazepine said:
Sorry to hear your guys loss of work. I was in the same situation in October 2014. Not a lay off, but similar. WVU, you're right. The thing I miss the most are the 401k and the ESPP plans. My money grew like it never grew before in such a short period of time with both plans. For health insurance, after I left CVS, I bought private insurance after looking at the Obamacare website. I paid $188 a month for a high deductible plan for myself for 1 year.

Finding work is never an issue. For someone like you guys WVU and Owle, who have good work experience, you are very marketable. That, and having a good personality and being able to communicate with people just sets you up to find awesome opportunities.
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Thanks!
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Well...I'm #2 out of 4 being layed off in my district for seniority. So I guess that's good. And the one above me is like 68 years old, so she might just take the severance and retire.

On the bright side, I did the numbers with Obamacare. United Health has a gold plan that's $570 a month for me and the misses with $0 deductible and all our drugs are tier 1, $5 a month. Considering that literally EVERYTHING counts against the giant ass $4000 deductible with CVS's **** plan, its barely going to cost us any more for it over a year. Pfft.
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@WVUPharm2007
I would suggest looking at Blue Cross. I just got a zero deductible Platinum plan with them. It's $300/month. It is worth shopping around.

Best,

Apotheker2015
 
First of all, I am sorry to hear about those who lost their jobs. I recently quit CVS. My experience was simply terrible. I was fortunate enough to see that my spirit would die there fast. So I left and got a job at a PBM. It's Monday through Friday, business hours, pays time and a half for anything over 40 hours and with the option to work from home occasionally. Did I mention there are no phone calls? I have zero patient contact which has really raised my quality of life. Patients can really get out of hand at CVS. The zero patient contact is really my favorite part and well, I get to keep up with new drugs that hit the market and with clinical guidelines and research.
These jobs exist and they're everywhere. Many even have a telecommute option. Here are some links to some jobs with a telecommute option. I pulled these for a friend of mine in Miami Beach who is sick of his overnight hospital pharmacist job.

http://www.simplyhired.com/job/phar...t2ixjrx4?cid=kdmrmzlfmqomytxcahsxuyatqlszczoo

http://www.simplyhired.com/job/phar...7vywgmro?cid=amsiagafccolxzmzpnldlvanzybnugvs

https://careers.unitedhealthgroup.c.../616068-appeals-pharmacist-telecommute?aasi=2

Here are some unsolicited suggestions. You have to make yourself visible and create a nice Linkedin profile that outlines everything you have done and more importantly, what you want to do. I have on average 2 recruiters reach out to me on a daily basis with job leads.
The nice thing about Linkedin is that you can do magic with the search button. You can search for:
  • recruiters in your area and recruiters for a specific company and reach out to them. When you reach out to a recruiter, you want to add them as a connection. They generally post opportunities on their own page and you want those to populate on your news feed. For that you also have to "follow" the recruiter.
  • hiring managers at companies
  • jobs. This one is a nice feature. The following terms will get you a myriad of hits:
    • Clinical Review pharmacist
    • Prior Authorization pharmacist
    • Appeals pharmacist
    • add telecommute & remote to your search and you will see there are many options.
  • You can also reconnect with classmates and see where they are right now and eventually ask them for a referral or leads.
  • main PBMs in your area and peruse their job postings
  • staffing agencies which are generally the main gateway for entry into a PBM. It's just common practice for PBMs to have contractors that they eventually hire. Most of them like to hire from within.
This is very important. You can also follow companies that you are interested in. This will make you visible on the radar of HR staff and recruiters at those companies.
I would stay away from monster.com. All I ever got were recruiters begging me to join their sales team at State Farm Insurance. I quickly deleted that profile.
On the upside, you're getting severance pay and/or unemployment. It's really the perfect opportunity to take advantage of this time to find a non-retail job. Let me know if I can help in any way with ideas or anything else.

Best,

Apotheker2015
 
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