Montefiore Expands with State-of-the-Art Pharmacy in Yonkers

Montefiore Health System has recently opened a new specialty pharmacy in Yonkers, further expanding its reach throughout Westchester County .

Staff and local officials celebrated the opening of the state-of-the-art facility, located at 100 Corporate Blvd. with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday February 8. The new 17,000 square foot facility provides patients and doctors with increased resources to manage a variety of complex health needs. This marks Montefiore's second specialty pharmacy location. Its first location in the Bronx opened in 2019.

What's a specialty pharmacy?

Specialty pharmacies allow for a higher degree of efficiency for those with more complex or particular needs. The new facility helps to equip such individuals through its ability to provide storage for high-cost medications, and medications that require specific storage or dosage regulations. Thus, those managing chronic or rare illnesses such as cancer or auto-immune disorders will have increased access to their medications–a service which a normal pharmacy may not be able to support as directly as a specialty pharmacy. Significant features of this specialty pharmacy include a pill counting machine with a camera for increased accuracy, access to home shipping as well as in-person pick up, continuous telephone access to pharmacists, and low co-pays for patients.

This specialized pharmacy in Yonkers is believed to be one of the largest such facilities in the metro area. It also holds the distinction of being one of the most technologically advanced.

Montefiore noted that since their debut in the 1970s, specialty pharmacies have become much more common. It believes this is caused in part to increases in rare and complex illnesses requiring more specialized storage and handling. Director of Community Pharmacy Practice, Steven Tuckman, projects that this specialty pharmacy can fill roughly 100,000 prescriptions this year.

According to Tuckman, the new specialized pharmacy functions as an extension of Montefiore's services for patients. Pharmacy staff stand by ready to assist patients and providers with particular needs and questions. They also perform follow-ups on treatment. Along with a positive impact on patients, the pharmacy will also have staff that will be able to handle insurance authorization tasks should the need arise, allowing for more streamlined care and shifting the responsibility from individual physicians.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano relayed his support for the new pharmacy

Thank you to Montefiore for choosing Yonkers as its second site for its Specialty Pharmacy. We want our residents and our community to stay healthy and be able to have access to the vital treatments they need. Providing low average co-pays not only allows for better responsibility and care for the patient, it helps them continue on the path to better health.

Mike Spano – Mayor of Yonkers

Montefiore's system Senior Vice-President of Operations, Susan Green-Lorenzen, also shared her excitement to come to Yonkers. She remarked at the opening that, “ We're always searching for opportunities across the health system to better support the community .”