PrimaryOne Health and AndHealth Celebrate Ribbon Cutting of Retail + Specialty Pharmacy, Improving Community Access to Medication
COLUMBUS, OH – PrimaryOne Health and AndHealth will celebrate the opening of PrimaryOne Health’s retail and specialty pharmacy on April 29th, 2025. The ribbon cutting marks the expansion of PrimaryOne Health’s pharmacy services where patients can access prescription, specialty, and over-the-counter medications, regardless of insurance coverage or income.
PrimaryOne Health’s pharmacy services are powered by a partnership with AndHealth, a Columbus-based healthcare company that helps CHCs radically improve access and outcomes to specialty care. Ohioans can now fill their prescriptions directly through PrimaryOne Health’s pharmacy, where affordable medications are available to all patients under PrimaryOne Health’s sliding fee scale.
Addressing Ohio’s Pharmacy Deserts and Improving Medication Access
According to new data[1] released by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, pharmacy closures have accelerated, and the state has lost hundreds of pharmacies over the past several years, leaving Ohioans with less than 2,000 retail pharmacies. Nearly 2 million Ohioans live in “pharmacy deserts”, or areas that lack convenient access to a pharmacy.[2] These access deserts disproportionately impact individuals in socially vulnerable communities, who face additional barriers to access and care, making the role of pharmacies located at CHCs even more central to improving community health in Ohio.
“Ensuring our patients have access to affordable medications is critical to developing healthy communities,” said Fikru Nigusse, who joined PrimaryOne Health as CEO in February of 2025. “This pharmacy expansion represents a reversal of Ohio’s recent trends of pharmacy consolidation and closure and ensures our neighbors have access to the medications they need directly within their community.”
AndHealth partners with Community Health Centers (CHCs) to expand access to care by addressing pharmacy and care deserts. “CHCs safeguard against deserts by providing critical care to the communities they serve,” said Matt Scantland, CEO of AndHealth. “We’re thrilled to expand our partnership with PrimaryOne Health to now offer rheumatology, dermatology, neurology, and pharmacy services to the people of Franklin County.”
PrimaryOne Health’s ribbon cutting will take place at its Agler Road location at 1:00 P.M. on April 29th with remarks by Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts, Franklin County Commissioner Erica C. Crawley, State Representative Dontavious Jarrells, PrimaryOne Health COO Nichole Gomez, and AndHealth National Medical Director Dr. Myles Spar.
Sources
https://data.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/data/view/ohio-pharmacy-assessment-?visualize=true
About PrimaryOne Health
In operation since 1997, PrimaryOne Health offers comprehensive primary care, OB-GYN, pediatric, vision, dental, behavioral health, nutrition, pharmacy, physical therapy, and specialty care services to over 41,000 patients. The organization provides services to UN/underinsured and insured residents throughout Franklin and Pickaway Counties at thirteen (13) health center locations and four Mobile Health Centers. It is the oldest and largest Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Central Ohio. For more information about PrimaryOne Health and its programs, go to primaryonehealth.org. PrimaryOne Health is a proud member of the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers (OACHC) and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC).
About AndHealth
AndHealth helps Community Health Centers (CHCs) radically improve access and outcomes for patients in specialty care and specialty pharmacy, while becoming an even larger and more clinically integrated part of our healthcare system. This Whole-Person Community Care Model provides everything CHCs need to deliver in-house specialty care and specialty pharmacy, built for the unique needs of our medically underserved populations.
The model provides CHCs with more patients, more clinical capabilities, alignment with health systems, and sustainable reimbursement and funding that restores the integrity of the patient’s medical home and their critical reimbursement model—both having shifted away from CHCs through external specialty referrals and contract pharmacies. In restoring this integrity, CHCs can tear down barriers to care and stretch scarce federal resources to reach more patients with comprehensive services that weren’t possible before and that are desperately needed by patients.
Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, AndHealth is led by former CoverMyMeds co-founder and CEO Matt Scantland and the team that built Ohio’s first healthcare technology unicorn, who have dedicated their lives to transformative innovation that improves access for patients. AndHealth is supported by key investors including the American Medical Association’s innovation subsidiary, Francisco Partners, and the state of Ohio’s economic development organization.
To learn more, visit AndHealth.com.
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