Ahoskie, NC — The Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center (RCCHC) will be holding a grand opening for its new pharmacy on Tuesday, March 11 at 5:00pm at the RCCHC Ahoskie Comprehensive Care Center, located at 120 Health Center Drive in Ahoskie.

The event will be held in conjunction with the Ahoskie Chamber of Commerce’s “Business After Hours” event and will take place on the first floor of the center. The opening of the pharmacy will be a historic moment for RCCHC, as the community health center now will now offer primary care, pediatric care, a pharmacy, and dental care (provided by the ECU School of Dental Medicine) on its main campus in Ahoskie.

The in-house pharmacy at RCCHC is the product of the $6.2 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Affordable Care Act Facility Improvement Grant awarded in October 2010. Having a 340B in-house pharmacy means community health center patients may be able to access more affordable medications and a pharmacist who is an active member of the clinical team. RCCHC will be able to continue to coordinate care with their four community partner pharmacies, Mizelle’s and DrugCo in Ahoskie, Colonial Pharmacy in Murfreesboro, and Todd’s Pharmacy in Gates County. “Medication assistance and affordability continue to be a negative contributing factor for folks in our area,” said Kim Schwartz, CEO of RCCHC. “We are so pleased to be able to expand our existing prescription assistance program by having a 340B Pharmacy within our Ahoskie Comprehensive Care site. We also feel so fortunate to have Angie Kent-Mitchell, a familiar face and locally grown pharmacist on board.” Angie Kent-Mitchell, the new RCCHC pharmacist, is no stranger to the community, having served as a pharmacist at another location in Ahoskie for years.

"I am truly humbled to be a part of something so immensely important and rewarding,” said Kent-Mitchell. “My hopes are that patients who once questioned how they were going to afford their medication from month to month now realize that we are here to help. With the assistance of our four partnering pharmacies [Colonial Pharmacy, DrugCo, Mizelle's, and Todd's Pharmacy], we will continue to strive for positive clinical outcomes in our tireless effort to improve the accessibility of quality medication by promoting affordability."

The pharmacy is another sign of RCCHC’s continued growth over the years in the Roanoke-Chowan area. Since 2011, the number of unique patients at RCCHC has increased 63%, and the number of patients seeking medical assistance at RCCHC continues to grow at a rapid rate.

For more information about the RCCHC Pharmacy Grand Opening/Ahoskie Chamber of Commerce “Business After Hours” event, visit www.ahoskiechamber.net.

To reach the RCCHC Pharmacy by phone, call (252) 862-4928. For more information about RCCHC and the services it provides, visit www.rcchc.org.