Dear APCI member,

As we all are facing an unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, I wanted to reach out to let you know how APCI is working with our membership during this challenging time.

Obviously, our first priority is the health of our employees, members, supply chain, and patients. We are working diligently to ensure as little disruption as possible so that you can continue to serve your patients on the front lines. A majority of our headquarters staff will work remotely for the time being, and we are confident that we will continue to serve our members on a "business as usual" basis.

Supply Chain

We are working closely with McKesson to keep supply chain disruptions to a minimum. Because of the surge in consumer purchasing during the past week, we are experiencing national shortages of some products, including rubbing alcohol, disinfectants, and cleaning products. While manufacturers are ramping up production to meet demand, we are currently on allocation for a number of products. As such, we are placing order limits on certain items. These limits will be shown in McKesson Connect, and we ask that you have patience with McKesson as they work with us during this time.

Rebates and Dividends

Monthly rebate and dividend payments will continue to be issued on their regular schedule, and we do not currently anticipate any disruption to monthly rebate and dividend payments to pharmacies.

APCI Availability

Although the APCI staff will be working remotely, we plan to work regular business hours for the duration. Staff will have their business phone lines forwarded to their homes, and we will continue answering emails as usual. APCI account executives and Front-End Merchandisers (FEMs) will defer to individual member pharmacies where in-store visits are concerned. Account execs and FEMs will call prior to visiting a pharmacy to ensure that the pharmacy is open and that an in-store visit is appropriate.

Because of production limitations with our printers and other vendors due to the current coronavirus situation, there may be delays or cancellations of certain marketing projects such as EDDM postcards, marketing kits, etc.

As I stated above, this is an unprecedented situation, but we are working together to help all of us get through this safely and sanely. We will update our membership as events warrant, and please keep an eye out for communications not only from APCI, but also from McKesson, as well as federal, state, and local officials. Again, we are working diligently to keep disruptions to a minimum; someone will always be available on-site during business hours to take your calls, so do not hesitate to reach out to your co-op.

Thank you,

Tim Hamrick
APCI CEO