Burbank’s Omnicare facility to close its doors

Omnicare – a business that provides pharmaceutical services to long-term care institutions – will close its Burbank facility next month.

Company spokesman Ed Loyd said Omnicare’s Burbank facility, located at 7565 San Fernando Road, will shut its doors on May 23.

The Cincinnati-based company manages hundreds of facilities across the country, providing pharmaceutical services to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes. Its specialty is geriatric care.

The move isn’t a sign that Omnicare’s operations are declining in the Burbank area, but rather that it’s taking advantage of the company’s technological investment in its Canoga Park location, according to Loyd.

“What we’re doing is we’re consolidating our operations … so we can improve our customer service,” he said.

State-of-the-art automation equipment has been installed in the Canoga Park location, which allows it to service clients of the Burbank location more efficiently at one site rather than two, Loyd said.

“With more automation, the filling of prescriptions becomes faster and more efficient,” he said.

Loyd said some of the 62 employees at the Burbank facility will be transferred to the Canoga Park location. Those that are not transferred will be laid off, he said.

An Omnicare facility contracts with long-term care facilities to fill all of their prescriptions. The prescriptions are filled at the facility and then delivered by Omnicare drivers.

Omnicare isn’t competing with retail pharmacies in stores such as Target or Walmart, but rather with other large firms such as PharMerica, based in Louisville, Ky.

Because of its emphasis on geriatric care, much of Omnicare’s business is paid for by Medicare, Loyd said.

--

Follow Daniel Siegal on Google+ and on Twitter: @Daniel_Siegal.