Vincentians provide health care services
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Several programs offered by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul are helping to provide those in need with options in their health care.
The Pharmacy Program, which was initiated in January 2008, provides free prescriptions to those who can’t afford them. The Society has partnered with St. Louis-based Express Scripts to provide more than 160 drugs for blood pressure issues, diabetes, and to help clients quit smoking, among others. The program does not offer artificial contraceptives.
In the first year of the program, more than 2,100 prescriptions were filled, according to Steve Rupp, director of conference support for the St. Louis Council. More than 1,600 prescriptions already have been filled in 2009.
“This was really started as a pilot — we have meetings with Vincentians on a regular basis, and we were asking them what their needs were,” said Rupp. “Many of them said with the rising cost of prescription drugs, this is becoming a real issue” for the clients. “They tell us, ‘Do I take my medicine or do I eat?’”
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