Nancy Moran

Mayor Martin O'Malley
City Hall, Room 250
100 North Holliday Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Re: Westside Redevelopment Devolution

Dear Mayor O'Malley:

This is to let you know that when the CVS Pharmacy on Lexington Street was sacrificed in the name of "development", "urban renewal" and so forth, the Westside of Baltimore City incurred severe losses and damages.

Apparently, Rite Aid Corporation has either been shielded and/or is part of the "Westside" plan. Within walking distance from my home: There is a fairly new Rite Aid at Howard and Lexington (in the former Hecht building) diagonally from the Stewart's building now being converted to apartments or condos as part of the "plan". There is a much newer Rite Aid at Howard and Chase in proximity to the State Office Building complex. There is an even newer Rite Aid at Saratoga and Martin Luther King Boulevard across the way from the Social Security Administration Complex.

The CVS Pharmacy on Lexington Street (formerly, "Revco", some years ago) has now shut its doors presumably permanently.

My pharmacist for perhaps eighteen years, Mr. David Grebow, R.Ph., has now gone and I cannot find out what happened to him. To follow or will be attached with this letter is my letter dated December 22, 1992 to the then President of the Revco chain. If I were to write a similar letter today, it would be even better.

I have often described Pharmacist Grebow as "the finest healthcare professional in this city that I have known". He was an integral part of the Westside neighborhood, dealing with a multitude of patients and problems and healthcare financing schemes public and private.

As for "I have known", I have known Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, Mercy and others as a patient and/or as an employee. Dave was not one to leave town at the completion of a degree or a residency or at the prospect of a better and/or higher-paid position somewhere elsewhere besides Baltimore.

Let me put it baldly: I went to call the familiar CVS 752-1919 phone number last week and found it was "rerouted" to the Rite Aid at Howard and Lexington. The Rite Aid pharmacist at that location was "two hours behind", AND the records and computer database from the Lexington CVS had not yet been converted for easy Rite Aid access. The Rite Aid pharmacist said I would be able to walk to the Rite Aid across from Social Security or down by the State Office building complex. Choosing the "Social Security" Rite Aid, I did - - and I found out:

To put it bluntly: Had I been able to get to CVS Lexington in the first place for the three prescriptions, as a "cash customer", I would have been charged $140.87 (even that total was a bit high in view of past experience). Rite Aid Social Security blithely asked for $211.00+ on my Platinum MasterCard which was thereupon rightly rejected.

Because I had no time left on Prescription C, I asked them to halve it and make it generic. The Rite Aid charged me $28.99 for half a prescription -- the same prescription the next day at the CVS adjacent to the Penn-North subway station (Pennsylvania and North Avenues) came in at $13.29 for a half month and $25.59 for a full one.

That is to say, for this month's supply of prescriptions, Rite Aid took me for $15.70 but Rite Aid is not going to get the chance to take me anymore.

I am going to have to go back to my doctor ($95/half hour) for another Prescription C and repeat all or most of these steps by the end of the week instead of at the end of the month.

If I had been on Medical Assistance or had a Pharmacy card, or presumably a participant in the State or Federal healthcare prescription reimbursement plans, I would have been subjected to a flat charge (such as $5) and this letter would not have been important to me. (I am not familiar with Medicaid or Medicare as of yet.) In view of my "cash customer" circumstances, however, it is.

Thank you for your assistance with these matters. I also want to thank you for the generous rebate on my Homeowner's Property tax during 1999 when my gross was just a mere tad over the maximum for Maryland tax form 123.

Sincerely,



Nancy Moran


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