The secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, made a stop at Medical Arts Pharmacy this afternoon on behalf of his boss – President Joe Biden. Becerra was joined by, among others, Dr. Mandy Cohen, whose reminder during the COVID-19 pandemic to “Wear, Wash, Wait” became second nature for many North Carolinians. Cohen, who during COVID was secretary of the state DHHS, became the new director of the Centers for Disease Control earlier this year.

Chocky White’s pharmacy on Ruin Creek Road provided the backdrop for Becerra and others to talk about access to health care in rural communities and how Medicaid expansion in North Carolina will help to close a gap for those who need access to health care.

In brief remarks to the gathering, Becerra said independent pharmacies like Medical Arts do so much more than dispense medicine. “You’re dispensing love and care and family” to patrons who come in seeking advice and consultation, he said.

Medical Arts is among other pharmacies that participates in the billion-dollar Bridge Access Program that provides COVID-19 vaccines at no cost to people on Medicare, which falls in line with Biden’s pledge to lower prescription drug costs including a $35 cap on monthly insulin for diabetics.

Today’s stop is part of an effort to share with the American public “what we’re trying to do to let rural communities…know that they’re included,” Becerra said. He said the President wants to make sure that, in rural America, you do have access to health care.

And he praised Gov. Roy Cooper’s efforts to get Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, which Becerra said would mean an additional 600,000 on the health care rolls. He said rural communities in states that don’t have Medicaid expansion are 50 percent more likely to lose their rural hospitals.

But it’s not just access to health care, he said. In independent pharmacies like Medical Arts, pharmacists and staff treat clients with respect and dignity.

When White opened Medical Arts in 1971, he was the sole employee in a 600-square-foot space just a short distance from the present location. Now he has five full-time pharmacists, one part-time pharmacist and 27 other employees that work every day to meet the needs of clients across a six-county area.

There are two immunization areas within the pharmacy, and White said folks are welcome to just drop in and get immunized, which surely got Cohen’s attention.

Her persistence in suggesting that North Carolinians stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations has been elevated to the national level as CDC director. And now she wants to make sure that everyone get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, influenza and RSV.

“Right now is the right time,” Cohen said. With Thanksgiving just three weeks away, she encourages everyone to be immunized to protect yourself and others.