Seymour without a pharmacy after Shopko closure

After the closing of Seymour's only pharmacy, area residents are now struggling to get their prescription medication filled.

On Wednesday, Action 2 News reported that the Seymour Shopko store was closing April 7 -- and the pharmacy inside was already shut down.

Shopko bought out the city's only other pharmacy back in 2011 when they built their Seymour store.

So now area residents have nowhere else to go nearby.

As a retired pharmacist and someone who used to have prescriptions filled at the Seymour Shopko, Jim Wurl understands the frustration of not having access to vital medication locally.

"We have a number of friends who are retired who no longer drive and are really in a quandary wondering what they're going to be doing, picking their medications," said Wurl, president of the Seymour Area Senior Citizens.

Wurl is one of the many people not just in Seymour but the entire surrounding area who now have to either fill their prescriptions online or travel miles to a larger city.

For the elderly that can be a hardship, but Mayor Ryan Kraft says no one is exempt.

"We have three clinics here in town. We have Prevea, Bellin and Aurora all have a presence. So for families that are treating minor ear infections, runny noses, sore throats things of that nature where they just need a simple antibiotic prescription, they're now being forced to drive to Appleton or Green Bay to have that prescription filled, so I think the impact is broad," said Kraft.

The hope is someone else will step in to fill the pharmacy void left by Shopko's closing.

Wurl added, "We did learn just yesterday that a local pharmacy in Pulaski is willing to actually deliver to residents here in Seymour, which was very good to hear about."

The city is reaching out to other pharmacy providers.

They plan to have discussions with at least one of them within the next two weeks about opening a store.