Allies for Health + Wellbeing celebrated the grand opening of Allies Pharmacy on Thursday, June 20, with a ribbon cutting at its location on Penn Avenue in East Liberty.
Allies for Health + Wellbeing is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that empowers individuals and communities through high-quality integrated medical care and supportive human services. Allies was founded as the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force in 1985 by Kerry Stoner and a small group of volunteers. Since then, the organization has expanded its focus beyond HIV prevention and care to address the diverse needs of the community in Pittsburgh. Allies’ services are available to everyone, and they include primary care, holistic HIV treatment, hepatitis C and STI testing and care, gender-affirming care, behavioral health care, and now, pharmacy services.
“Allies Pharmacy will allow our patients and clients the convenience of getting their medications while they are already visiting our facility for their medical care or case management services,” said Sean DeYoung, CEO of Allies for Health + Wellbeing. “Our pharmacist is specially trained in the medications many of our patients need, including those for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), HIV, and hepatitis C. And when our patients and clients use Allies Pharmacy, they can know that revenue from the pharmacy will help provide outreach, HIV and STI testing, medical care and other services for individuals in our community.”
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee and Pennsylvania state Sen. Lindsay Williams both attended the ribbon cutting, along with Ben Kelly, senior vice president of pharmacy management at Maxor National Pharmacy Services, and Kim Johnson, regional vice president of operations at Maxor National Pharmacy Services. Allies engaged Maxor National Pharmacy Services to guide it through the construction and licensing processes, and Allies will continue to partner with Maxor to operate Allies Pharmacy.
This pharmacy was made possible by a generous grant from the Eden Hall Foundation.
“We are proud to partner with Allies for Health and Wellbeing in this meaningful way that enables Allies to both better serve its mission and grow the overall impact to our community of Southwestern Pennsylvania,” said Sylvia Fields, President of the Eden Hall Foundation.
Allies Pharmacy is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and is closed daily from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. for lunch. Current Allies patients and clients who are interested in using Allies Pharmacy can call 412-643-3405 to sign up.
