CVS recently announced that it will close the Herscher store, effective March 6, which is a blow to the small western Kankakee County community.

“This is really tough for the residents in western Kankakee, southeast Grundy, northwest Livingston, northern Ford and northwest Iroquois counties who rely on it for their health care and prescription needs,” said Herscher Mayor Shannon Sweeney in an email to the Daily Journal. “Herscher was like a bridge between other pharmacies in Kankakee, Braidwood, Fairbury and Gilman.”

Matt Blanchette, senior manager, retail communications for CVS Pharmacy’s corporate office in Woonsocket, R.I., said in an email that the company had to make a “difficult decision” to close the store at 279 W. Illinois Route 115 in Herscher. All prescriptions will be transferred to the CVS Pharmacy at 230 Comet Drive in Braidwood.

Blanchette added customers can choose to have their prescriptions filled at any CVS Pharmacy that is more convenient for them. There are also CVS locations in Bourbonnais, Kankakee, Manteno and Momence.

“All employees are being offered comparable roles within the company,” he said.

Sweeney said residents in the middle will now have to travel 16-25 miles to get their prescriptions filled.

“It’s like a ‘pharmacy desert,’ and it’s going to be a real struggle for them,” he said. “I’ve already reached out to [state] Sen. [Patrick] Joyce and state Rep. [Jackie] Haas for help. I’ve also contacted the State Pharmacy Board.”

Blanchette said maintaining access to pharmacy services in the communities it serves is an important factor it considers when making store closure decisions.

“Other factors include local market dynamics, population shifts, a community’s store density and ensuring there are other geographic access points to meet the needs of the community,” he said.