Hansell brings telepharmacy to Oregon
By Terry Murry on Friday, July 16th, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
ATHENA – State Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) says Oregon was the only state west of Texas without a telepharmacy program. He’s changed that with Senate Bill 629. The measure was the result of a call from the La Grande hospital regarding a clinic they operate in Elgin.
“For folks that live there, if they needed to get a prescription filled, it necessitated a 60-mile round trip,” Hansell said.
That didn’t seem right to the Republican from Athena. He said it didn’t appear to be a partisan issue, since states ranging from liberal California to conservative Wyoming were on board with telepharmacy.
He said he was careful to build in safeguards so that the measure doesn’t hurt pharmacies that operate in smaller towns.
“We believe the safeguards are there,” he said. “If not, we’ll revisit that.
The Oregon Board of Pharmacy will establish the rules to govern telepharmacy.
Graphic via PBA Health
