PENN TRAFFIC USES WHOLE STORE FOR WELLNESS

Wendy Toth

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Penn Traffic Co. is piloting a self-care health and wellness program for its customers at one of its Erie, Pa., stores starting today, said Mario Pisano, corporate director of pharmacy.

"I strongly feel supermarkets have an advantage, with the added efforts of pharmacists and nutritionists working together to offer patients ongoing support and assistance to improve their health," Pisano said.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy in Erie and a Penn Traffic staff dietitian are providing consumer education, Pisano said.

"Medication alone rarely encompasses the entire treatment plan. To maximize the medication's effectiveness, patients must also be able and willing to make dietary and exercise changes," he said.

"The opportunity to inform consumers may be greater for supermarkets, because diet relates heavily to managing certain health conditions that also require medication, such as diabetes," said Jim Wisner, president, Wisner Marketing Group, Libertyville, Ill.

The program will include increased accessibility to pharmacists. "With estimates of misuse of medications costing Americans as much as $76 billion each year, we feel having the ability to make the pharmacist more accessible to patients to provide these types of services will be valuable," Pisano said.