JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Frustration is growing at a Northside pharmacy as customers say they\u2019re struggling to get prescriptions filled on time at the Lem Turner Road location of Walgreens.<\/p>\n
Customers tell Action News Jax they\u2019re waiting in long lines for prescriptions they were told were ready, only to find out they\u2019re not. With other Walgreens stores closed, they said this location is simply overwhelmed.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n Long lines at the drive-thru and long lines inside tell the story at the Lem Turner Road pharmacy.<\/p>\n Shopper Ken Badger said the impact was immediate once nearby stores shut down.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the only Walgreens now in this community within a 3 to 5 mile radius,\u201d said Badger.<\/p>\n He said this location is now carrying the load for the entire area.<\/p>\n Badger said, \u201cSo now you have a overflow of subscriptions at this store.\u201d<\/p>\n Action News Jax reported last year when Walgreens announced plans to close 1,200 stores nationwide. That decision led to several closures on Jacksonville\u2019s Northside, including locations on Soutel Drive, Dun Avenue, and Monaco Road, leaving the Lem Turner Road store as one of the only nearby options for residents in the Biscayne community.<\/p>\n Badger said he recently went to pick up medication for his wife, who is recovering from surgery, after he received a notification that it was ready.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did get the phone call saying the medication was ready. I get to the front of the line. I tell them who I am to pick up the medication, and they tell me that your medication is not ready,\u201d said Badger.<\/p>\n He says the issue isn\u2019t the employees but corporate leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it does not appear that they\u2019ve taken the necessary precautions to put the correct amount of staffing or even to increase the hours to accommodate this neighborhood,\u201d said Badger.<\/p>\n Frustrated, Badger said he reached out to corporate.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n Ken Badger said, \u201c I actually reached out to Walgreens to corporate office, and I got the response back from the store manager.\u201d<\/p>\n He shared this statement with Action News Jax, which reads:<\/p>\n \u201cDear Kenneth Badger,<\/p>\n \u201cThank you for sharing about your recent experience at Walgreens.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate your willingness to share your concerns and want to apologize for the delay,<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately we are in the middle of getting new higher ups. We will use your feedback to ensure customers do not experience this same issue in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cIt you would like to email or call me to discuss this in more detail, please contact me using the information below. Thank you again for sharing your concerns, as your feedback is critical to help us improve the experience at Walgreens. We hope to see you again soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Another shopper said she\u2019s experienced similar problems.<\/p>\n Jocelyn Nash said, \u201cIt was a strain on us on the ones we\u2019re trying to get our medicine when we get over here, then it\u2019s not filled.\u201d<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Action News Jax also reached out to Reggie Gaffney Jr., who represents this district, to bring these concerns to his attention. <\/p>\n He sent us the following statement on Thursday:<\/p>\n \u201cMy office has been made aware of growing concerns from residents regarding the condition of the former Walgreens property located at the corner of Dunn Avenue and Monaco Road, as well as the strain recent store closures have placed on nearby pharmacy locations.<\/p>\n \u201cUpon learning of these issues, I immediately reached out to Walgreens, and I am pleased that they responded. They sent a crew from in and out of town team, who are there right now, to address this issue and to get it under control.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I met with Walgreens representatives in October 2025, I raised concerns that closing this location could lead to many of the challenges our community is experiencing today. I emphasized the importance of ensuring that store closures do not negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood or the residents who rely on these services.<\/p>\n \u201cAdditionally, I am aware of the challenges residents are experiencing at remaining pharmacy locations, including long wait times and delays in filling prescriptions following several Walgreens closures across Jacksonville\u2019s Northside. Access to medication is critical for our residents, particularly seniors and families managing ongoing health needs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have work to do, but I want to thank Walgreens for their immediate response. I will remain on top of this and will continue working with Walgreens to address these concerns and advocate for solutions that better serve our community while ensuring the property is properly secured and maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Frustration is growing at a Northside pharmacy as customers say they\u2019re struggling to get prescriptions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[982,84925,84926,7840,43680,1128,969,116,118,117,84927,84921,84924,84918,634,84919,84923,9476,9475,84928,724,84920,84922,34238,36465],"class_list":{"0":"post-179591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_news","9":"tag-badger","10":"tag-badgers","11":"tag-ben_becker","12":"tag-ben_tanika","13":"tag-dunn_avenue","14":"tag-jack","15":"tag-jacksonville","16":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","17":"tag-jacksonville-news","18":"tag-jocelyn_nash","19":"tag-ken_badger","20":"tag-lim_turner","21":"tag-lin_turner","22":"tag-local","23":"tag-lynn_turner_road","24":"tag-monaco_road","25":"tag-nicholas","26":"tag-nicholas_brooks","27":"tag-reggie_gaffney_junior","28":"tag-road","29":"tag-sharper","30":"tag-sotel_drive","31":"tag-taneka_hughes","32":"tag-walgreens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}