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Union County honors Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy for providing free medications to uninsured residents
Summary
The Board recognized Ritesh Shah and his charitable pharmacy for dispensing roughly $250,000 worth of medications at no cost to residents since opening, serving about 60 regular patients and filling nearly 2,000 prescriptions.
The Board of County Commissioners recognized Ritesh Shah and Ritesh Shah Charitable Pharmacy for providing no-cost prescription medications and pharmacy services to uninsured and underserved Union County residents.
Shah described the pharmacy as "the first and only charitable pharmacy" of its kind in New Jersey and said he and volunteers have dispensed about $250,000 worth of medications to date, serving roughly 60 patients on maintenance medications and filling close to 2,000 prescriptions since opening in late 2023. "If they have $10, we want them to use that $10 for food, not for the medicine," Shah said.
He said many of the prescriptions are insulin and other chronic-disease drugs, and he cited an individual case in which a patient's hemoglobin A1C fell from about 14 to roughly 8 after receiving medications through the pharmacy. Shah said the operation is self-funded through donations and volunteer effort.
Commissioner Granados and County Manager Oatman joined in presenting a resolution acknowledging the pharmacy's work. Granados said, "It's an honor to hand this to you. What you're doing is just amazing. And Union County will keep supporting you because you're doing such great work." County Manager Oatman thanked Shah and his board and described the partnership with the county as "truly remarkable."
Ending: The Board presented a resolution of acknowledgment and said the county will continue to support the charitable pharmacy's partnership to help residents who otherwise lack access to prescribed medications.
