Mainline Pharmacy closure leaves community, staff mourning loss of local pillar

When Barbie Fordyce of Greensburg pulled up to the drive-thru window to get her medications at Mainline Pharmacy in Harrison City on Monday, it was for the last time.

“It’s a crying shame,” Fordyce said. “I’ve been coming here forever.”

The business has been a community staple for decades. But because of ongoing financial challenges, the pharmacy chain determined it could no longer keep the location open.

The location’s last day was Monday, and customers flocked to the small building on Route 130 throughout the day to pick up prescriptions and say their goodbyes.

Mainline is among area independent pharmacies that have blamed low reimbursement payments on prescription drugs as the cause of their troubles. The reimbursements are determined by third-­party intermediaries called pharmacy benefit managers. The money that independent pharmacies get back on each prescription is often far less than the cost of the medications.

According to information posted on Mainline’s Facebook page, it experienced losses of more than $350,000 on about 17,500 prescriptions filled so far this year, making continued operation of nine of its stores unsustainable.

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Pharmacy co-owner Jack Moschgat said that, after Mainline in Harrison City shuts down, the pharmacy’s prescription inventory will be sold to Rite Aid and over-the-counter merchandise will be sent to a remaining Mainline location that is staying open in Somerset. Harrison City customers’ prescriptions will be referred to the Rite Aid store farther west on Route 130.

On its last day, the pharmacy still buzzed with activity, despite some of the shelves being picked over and merchandise being discounted.

Moschgat said customers stopped by throughout the day to check in.

Like a family

For the pharmacy’s staff, the closure was especially rough.

Nicole Gonder, who works at Mainline, gave hugs to customers as they picked up their bags of medication at the counter. She has worked there for 29 years.

Getting to know her customers has always been part of her job. Now, she doesn’t know whether she’ll continue working in pharmacy.

“It’s like they’ve said, it’s like ‘Cheers.’ They come in, and you know everything about them,” she said. “Everybody was always friendly and nice, and our customers were understanding.”

She said she and other staff always tried to help customers, even doing home deliveries if the regular driver was unavailable.

“We always went above and beyond,” she said.

Working at Mainline is a family affair for Gonder. Debbie Cortazzo, Gonder’s mother, has worked at Mainline for 35 years.

Customers have brought in cake, cookies and doughnuts during the past few days to thank the staff, Cortazzo said.

“You know people, and people rely on you, and they always want to talk to you. They tell you all their troubles,” she said. “It’s like a family thing.”

Bidding farewell

Some customers teared up or got emotional as they picked up their last prescriptions from the counter.

Todd Zavolta of Penn Township lamented what the closure of Mainline could mean for the community. A lifelong area resident, he values the personal connection he had with the pharmacists and staff, and said he’s even received guidance on his mother’s medications.

He hopes to take his prescriptions to an independent pharmacy in Delmont after Mainline closes.

“It’s terrible. The small places are gone. There’s no more mom-and-pop places anymore,” Zavolta said. “It’s all going by the wayside.”

Customer Tara Stanton said she has been struggling with illness in recent months. The pharmacy would regularly carry medications out to her car. On some occasions, she said, Gonder has driven the medications to her house.

“It’s definitely going to be a huge loss for the community,” Stanton said.

Katie Hyland of Penn Township said she recently started going to Mainline because it was easier to fill her Adderall prescription there. Other, larger chain pharmacies have struggled to stock the medication.

“There’s a shortage, but they were always able to get it,” she said.

As Jessica Waite and Kimberly Fox of Claridge browsed the greeting card rack, Waite said she was “devastated” at the closure.

“I really liked supporting the local business. That meant a lot, honestly,” Waite said.

Fox said she has been able to have medications delivered by staff when she was ill.

“I get to know them,” she said. “They’re really great people, they really are. I’m so sad for them. … It just feels like they’re letting my friends go.”