Mock pharmacy at Detroit Goodwill fights pharmacy worker shortage, provides opportunity

Tears streamed down Chinonoso Chijioke-Chukwuma's cheeks as she told her story of struggle and perseverance.

Surrounded Tuesday by 39 other new graduates of pharmacy schools from all over Michigan, Chijioke-Chukwuma and her colleagues all were about to get their very first pharmacist white coats with their names embroidered on them and their first jobs at CVS stores across the state.

It was the beginning of an effort to recruit and train Detroiters for jobs in pharmacies, which, like the rest of the health care industry, faces serious worker shortages.

A single mother, Chijioke-Chukwuma came to the U.S. from Nigeria nine years ago, and was committed to becoming a pharmacist; her own mother died of a medication error.

"When I was choosing a path in life, I chose to become a pharmacist because I wanted to counsel patients about how to choose their medications wisely," said Chijioke-Chukwuma, 43, of Romulus.

A complex path to her white coat

She enrolled first at Wayne County Community College and then at Wayne State University. Several times, she said she had to drop out of classes because it was too difficult to both care for her children and complete all her coursework.

But, she said, it was other pharmacy students who became among her closest friends and allies. They lifted her up in those hard times and encouraged her not to give up.

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"We need each other," she said. "A single tree cannot make a forest. It was not an easy journey for me ... but I was determined."

And on Tuesday, Chijioke-Chukuma pledged to support another young mother, Naya Williams, 17, of Detroit, as she begins a career in health care.

Williams has a 9-month-old son, Kenzo Williams, and is working toward a high school diploma through Virtual Academy High School. She hopes one day to become a nurse.

"You keep pushing," Chijioke-Chukuma told Williams at the CVS Workforce Innovation and Talent Center that just opened at the Detroit headquarters of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit. "What do you want to achieve? You don't want to be at the mercy of anybody, right? So you put on the lion's hat, and you say, 'I can do this.' There's nothing in this world that is not achievable if you put your mind to it.

"I don't want you to be discouraged. You can call me any time and we can talk about it."

They hugged and exchanged phone numbers.

'We want to show them what their future could look like'

"I'm very inspired," said Williams, who is one of 20 Detroit high school students enrolled in a six-week CVS internship program that will teach them about how to work in a pharmacy.

"They get to learn with hands-on experience, get to build their knowledge about pharmacy and they get to experience our real stores and serve patients in the community," said Sarita Saadeharfouch, CVS Health regional director. "And ideally, that's why we want to mentor them here at the WITC (Workforce Innovation and Talent Center). We want to show them what their future could look like, especially kids with no resources."

The center, which operates out of the Goodwill headquarters on Grand River Avenue, near Motor City Casino, has a mock pharmacy, where students can train. At upcoming clinics, it also will offer vaccinations, blood-pressure and blood-sugar screenings along with women's reproductive health counseling and screenings and mental health services, said Lena Barkley, CVS workforce initiatives manager.

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The idea is for CVS to train new workers at the center, expand the search for talent to include people who are often overlooked, while also helping to fill a gap in needed health care services.

The national health care staffing crisis that deepened during the coronavirus pandemic also has affected pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The American Pharmacists Association acknowledged the staffing crisis earlier this year, after many pharmacies cut their operating hours.

Pharmacists association blames health care system flaws

“Some are blaming reduced hours on a pharmacist shortage," said Ilisa BG Bernstein, interim executive vice president and CEO of American Pharmacists Association in a statement. "It is incorrect to say that there is a shortage of pharmacists or pharmacy technicians. More accurately, there is a shortage of pharmacists and technicians willing to work under the current conditions. ... We need to stop conflating and blaming the current conditions on pharmacist or technician shortages, when it’s due to short-staffing and health care system faults."

Barkley said this CVS program will help to draw in "the right people ... who really want to dedicate their lives to helping others."

"When you come into the pharmacy, you want a person who smiles, is energetic, has empathy for that patient that comes through the door. Here, we can invest in our high schools and really give them that information ... and connect with them and just spark their interest. We can give them a live setting to come on board and actually see the profession and then go on to pharmacy school."

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Partnering with Goodwill, Barkley said, helps both organizations achieve the same goal.

"We'll bring in diverse talent ... giving people the opportunity to be successful and grow through education, housing, food and equity. We want to put everybody on the same playing field, and Goodwill has that same purpose in Michigan," Barkley said.

To learn more about programs available at the Workforce Innovation and Talent Center, email WI.Info@CVSHealth.com or go to goodwilldetroit.org. CVS offers free health screenings through its Project Health program, including in Detroit. Sign up for services at cvs.com/project-health.

Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. Subscribe to the Free Press.