Northern Light Health’s pharmacy division is expanding to Ellsworth with a new building planned for High Street.
The new 2,500 square-foot building is under construction in front of Reny’s store, on a site formerly occupied by the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber building was demolished in 2021.
The pharmacy will be open to the general public but will also directly coordinate with Northern Light Health providers to fill prescriptions for patients, Northern Light officials said.
Northern Light expects to open the pharmacy this fall with four employees, Matthew Martson, vice president and chief pharmacy officer for Northern Light, said.
The estimated cost of the new building is $500,000, according to information on file at the city’s code enforcement office. The pharmacy will have a drive-through window as well as interior retail space. The traffic pattern in the north end of the shopping center parking lot is being redesigned to accommodate the new building.
Northern Light currently owns and operates three pharmacies in Bangor and one each in Brewer, Waterville and Portland. It also operates hospitals in Blue Hill and Ellsworth, as well as in Dover-Foxcroft, Greenville, Pittsfield, Portland, Presque Isle, Waterville and two in Bangor — Acadia and Eastern Maine Medical Center.
Ellsworth already has a Walgreens pharmacy and pharmacies located inside the local Hannaford and Shaw’s supermarkets, all of which are located on High Street. Another pharmacy is located in Walmart on Myrick Street.
A former Rite Aid pharmacy was located for several years in a now-vacant building at the corner of High Street and Downeast Highway until it closed in 2018, after Rite Aid sold 2,000 of its locations to Walgreens.
