McKEESPORT, Pa. — Inside, the lights are off and the door is locked. After 58 years on Walnut Street, Ayres Pharmacy—McKeesport’s last independent pharmacy—has closed for good. The sudden shutdown means hundreds of longtime customers will now receive prescriptions by mail, potentially adding both time and cost to their routines.
“We’ve known for only about a week—I know it’s short notice for everybody,” said Ed Christofano, Pharm.D., owner of Hayden’s Pharmacy Group.
Ayres’ closure came down to finances. Independent pharmacies, along with larger chains like Rite Aid, say they have been squeezed by pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. These third-party companies negotiate prices between drugmakers and insurers and determine pharmacy reimbursements.
“No business can really survive losing money on prescriptions—when the drug costs more than what we’re reimbursed,” Christofano said. “That’s been a problem for independent pharmacies for many years.”
Hayden’s Pharmacy Group will now begin filling prescriptions for Ayres customers. But accessibility is a challenge. The closest Hayden’s location is in Youngwood, Pennsylvania — about 22 miles away, a 30-to-40-minute drive that includes toll roads. That’s a significant barrier for the nearly 1,000 patients who relied on Ayres in McKeesport.
To bridge the gap, Christofano said Hayden’s will ship medications directly to former Ayres customers. While mail delivery can help, it may also add time and potentially increase costs.
“This needs to be a wake-up call to our legislators and state representatives,” Christofano said. “Something needs to be done to regulate PBMs to keep pharmacies providing medications to patients in their area.”
Ayres is not alone. In Highland Park, Stanton-Negley Drug Company has also announced it will close at the end of the month due to rising costs. Across Pennsylvania, nearly 300 Rite Aid stores have shut down, and in 2024 alone, an estimated 140 pharmacies closed their doors.
“The writing has been on the wall with PBMs—lack of reimbursement has forced them to close,” Christofano said.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
