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N.C. expands access to contraceptive services at pharmacies

The change by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will allow pharmacists to provide certain contraceptive services to patients, including counseling and referrals to ongoing care. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The change by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will allow pharmacists to provide certain contraceptive services to patients, including counseling and referrals to ongoing care. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock. 

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says residents statewide will soon have greater access to contraceptive services at pharmacies without a prescription from another medical provider. That access includes counseling regarding contraception options, the prescribing of contraceptive pills and patches, and referrals to ongoing care.

This new protocol of allowing pharmacists to provide care is intended to fill coverage gaps, especially in rural areas that are considered maternal health deserts.

Professor Mollie Scott is the regional associate dean for the University of North Carolina's Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She notes that nearly half the patients consulting pharmacists don’t have a primary care physician.

"And so one of the ways that we can impact that is by working upstream and making sure that women have options for their reproductive health, and that they can have more autonomy and planning when and if they want to have children," says Scott. 

Officials say that more than half of all pregnancies in North Carolina are unintentional and can lead to poor outcomes for mothers and infants.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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