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Alto Pharmacy Technician

Alto Pharmacist

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Blog | Alto Pharmacy

Rafi Benzaquen is Head of Delivery Operations at Alto Pharmacy and is one of the Alto employees leading the charge on a donation drive for critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers. We caught up with Rafi to learn more about the program and how Alto is giving back to the community in the face of COVID-19. To learn more about the PPE donation program or to request a pickup of supplies, check out our blog here.

What do you do at Alto and what led you to join Alto?

I run our delivery operations at Alto, managing systems to ensure that thousands of patients receive their medications each day. I started my career in strategy consulting and often felt disconnected from the impact of my work which is what led me to start working at startups. I worked on operations and driver support at Uber for over four years. I loved being able to have an impact on the driver experience and saw how much Uber could have an impact on these folks' lives.  

I joined Alto because I was inspired by Alto’s mission to help patients, and I’m able to have an impact in creating jobs and opportunities for couriers.

How did you get involved in efforts to leverage Alto’s work to get donations of PPE to hospitals?

For me, this program is personal. I have friends and family who work in the medical field - my dad is a doctor in New York and my best friend is a doctor in LA. I’ve been hearing from them firsthand what they are dealing with due to COVID-19, such as friends stating: “I have one N95 mask and I have to re-use it.” I have really internalized what is going on and realize how important it is to help.

I feel lucky that I can leverage Alto’s systems and expertise to have an impact here. Our company values include leading from a place of empathy and focusing on impact. I am grateful that our leadership team has enthusiastically supported our efforts to launch this program.

How are you leveraging Alto’s systems and your experience to help organize pickups of PPE donations?

Because of the pharmacy delivery work that we do at Alto, we have the couriers, the reach, and the personnel for this type of program. Our team is collecting info from people who have supplies to donate, coordinating courier routes to collect donations, and then partnering with other organizations such as GetMePPE - Bay Area to help ensure an equitable distribution of donations to the hospitals that have the highest need each day.

Our CEO committed to cover the costs of paying Alto couriers to pick up donations and drop them off at hospitals. Aside from the impact on frontline healthcare personnel, this program has also created more jobs for couriers, many of whom have been laid off by other part-time jobs. We’ve also put processes in place to safeguard courier health when they collect donations and are paying a higher rate for this project. 

What has been the impact of this effort so far?

We launched this offering in the Bay Area just last week and we have already received a great response.  We’ve collected >3,700 masks, >13,500 gloves, as well as sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer, and goggles to donate to numerous hospitals throughout the Bay Area. We have more pickup times available this week, and I’m excited to see what else we collect.

We’re also talking to a number of different hospitals and organizations to explore how our expertise and experience managing delivery logistics can help with other efforts to get PPE to frontline healthcare workers.  

I’ve been blown away by how many people have already donated through us and am excited that we are expanding this program to Seattle, Los Angeles and Orange County. I feel really grateful that Alto is working to support our communities who are dealing with the impacts of COVID-19.

I want to thank everyone at Alto who has been involved in this effort. Specifically, Frances Schendle, Hannah Byam, Jaime LaFontaine, Kevin Ruiz, Joe Young, Spencer Armini, Hilary Dalrymple and our amazing couriers who have been instrumental in execution of this program.

To request a pickup of donations, fill out this form.

Powered by People Who Care: An Altoid Profile

Mattieu Gamache-Asselin, Co-founder & CEO, and Jamie Karraker, Co-founder & CTO

Since our start as a community pharmacy here in San Francisco’s Mission District more than four years ago, Alto has remained committed to delivering on medicine’s true purpose — to improve quality of life for everyone who needs it. This mission, realized through doorstep medication delivery and remote access to pharmacists, is key to ensuring uninterrupted access to critical treatments and helping contain the community spread of COVID-19. 

In this period of uncertainty and change, here are our commitments to you:

We are here to serve you. We remain open for business at all locations, with delivery windows seven days a week and couriers at the ready. We’ve implemented a no-contact delivery protocol to ensure the safety of both our customers and our couriers. Our shelves are stocked with both common and specialty medications, and our pharmacists are available to answer your question by phone, text or secure message in our mobile app so you can stay at home. 

If you have family members, neighbors and friends in our service areas who would benefit from the safety of home delivery, please share Alto’s information with them. Our team is ready to assist with prescription transfers and insurance coordination, and most medications are available for same-day delivery. If for any reason we can’t fill your prescription, we’ll help you find a pharmacy that can.

None of this is possible without the hard work, long hours, flexibility, and dedication of our team. Every role at Alto is critical to ensuring our continued operational readiness, but our local pharmacy fulfillment teams and courier fleet gracefully take on additional risk to ensure prompt delivery of medications. To recognize these contributions, we are raising hourly pay for our frontline fulfillment team members by $2/hour, effective March 31st, for the duration of the stay-at-home order in their respective locations. We’re also providing a one-time bonus payment of $140 to members of our courier fleet on April 10th. 

We have the utmost respect for our healthcare colleagues working on the frontlines of treating this pandemic. We are partnering with doctors, nurses and clinic staff to assist with the transition to telemedicine care. We are carefully managing our supply chain to guard against potential shortages for your patients. And we are working with area health systems, governments and employers to make sure that Alto’s free doorstep medication delivery is available as an option to as many individuals as possible.

We’ve also leveraged our courier fleet to facilitate a personal protective equipment (PPE) drive in the SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Seattle. In just over a week, we’ve coordinated more than 100 donation pick-ups with more than 4,700 masks and respirators, 16,000 gloves, goggles, and cleaning supplies with delivery to area hospitals. 

We are honored to be your pharmacy partner and play a small role in ensuring the health and safety of our communities. 

Matt Gamache-Asselin and Jamie Karraker
Co-founders, Alto Pharmacy

Re-creating a Community Pharmacy in the Time of COVID-19

Alto's PPE donation pick-up drive adds more windows in San Francisco, launches donation pick-up windows in Seattle, Los Angeles and Orange County

Alto launched its inaugural PPE donation pick-up drive on Friday, March 27th. In just one week, our fleet of couriers has conducted more than 85 pick-ups of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical supplies. Thanks to the generosity of the greater San Francisco Bay Area community, more than 4,700 masks, 16,000 gloves and other supplies have been delivered to the medical staff working the front lines at facilities including San Ramon Regional Medical Center, St. Rose Hospital, Sutter Health Eden Medical Center ER, UCSF Mission Bay, Kaiser Oakland, and Washington Hospital. We are grateful for the partnership of the team at GetMePPE Bay Area for their guidance on ensuring the donations are addressing critical shortages throughout the community. The team at GetMePPE Bay Area has helped coordinate donations to all of the following area facilities:

Sutter Health,   Kaiser San Jose
Kaiser Redwood City,   San Ramon Regional Medical Center
St. Rose Hospital,   Palo Alto VA
Washington Hospital,   El Camino Hospital
UCSF,   Kaiser Regional - Diablo Marin Sonoma
Kaiser San Leandro,   Kaiser Oakland
Kaiser Richmond,   Kaiser Santa Clara
Kaiser Antioch,   Valley Medical Center Foundation
Kaiser Fremont,   Alameda Health System
Chinese Hospital,   Contra Costa County Health Services
Marin General Hospital,   Kaiser San Rafael
Stanford Medicine,   John Muir

Given the initial success of our Bay Area donation program, we are expanding this effort to our Los Angeles, Orange County and Seattle courier delivery zones. Health systems throughout these regions are experiencing a shortage of the PPE that healthcare workers need to stay safe while providing care for the increasing numbers of COVID-19 (coronavirus) patients. Donations will be retrieved by our Alto courier team and will go directly to the healthcare providers at hospitals throughout our communities. 

Unused disposable N95 respirators and surgical masks.*

Unopened containers of disinfectants and disinfectant wipes

*The packages can be opened, as long as the masks have not been used.

First, confirm that you are in our SF, Seattle, LA and OC courier zones here, and then complete this short form to request a donation pickup. 

Please print off this form and follow the instructions for placing the donation items in an enclosed bag. Label the bag "Alto Donation," include the form, and leave the donation bag in the designated safe place before the start of the scheduled pick-up window. An Alto courier will come to pick up the donations - no contact needed!

Wednesday, April 15 between 9 am and 1 pm

Requests must be made before 8pm on the evening before the window. Read more about the original donation drive and common FAQs here.

Connecting Crucial COVID-19 Supplies with Healthcare Workers

Alto’s launch in the Seattle market extends our industry-leading patient care model to Washington state.

Alto Pharmacy Launches Local Daily Delivery in Seattle Metro Area

Starting Tuesday, January 21, fertility patients in the Seattle metro area can now choose Alto’s same-day doorstep delivery and have their medications delivered by our Alto team.

Our evening delivery windows allow patients to more easily plan to be available to receive their packages. Patients schedule deliveries to the location of their choice — home, work or hotel — and on the day of their choosing. They can even track our couriers in real time on our mobile app. Next-day mail order service is also available for patients outside of the courier zone.

Courier delivery windows
Monday — Friday: 6–9 pm PT
Saturday: 2–5 pm PT

Walk-in hours
Monday — Friday: 12:30–7 pm PT
Saturday: 10–5 pm PT (closed on Sundays)

Fertility patients interested in using Alto’s services for their medication needs can ask their care team to send all prescriptions to Alto Pharmacy (via ePrescribe, phone or fax).

Fertility is Complicated. Your Medications Don’t Have to Be.

Alto knows fertility pharmacy. With more than 50,000 patients served, we understand the treatment complexities and concerns of fertility patients. Our dedicated patient care team is available in the evenings and on weekends to walk you through your first injection or answer questions about medication storage, dosing or interactions. Our fertility deliveries include all necessary ancillary supplies, such as syringes, sharps container and alcohol swabs, and are carefully packaged for temperature control. Delivery is always free.

Alto will automatically connect you with all manufacturer-sponsored financial assistance programs for qualifying prescriptions. Alto also works with many fertility benefits programs, including ProgynyRx, and many leading financing and loan providers. If we cannot bill your insurance, we’ll find you a pharmacy that can.

At this time, Alto is only offering fertility medication services in the Seattle market. Any updates to service areas and offerings will be available at alto.com/locations.

Blog

Powered by People Who Care: An Altoid Profile

Re-creating a Community Pharmacy in the Time of COVID-19

Connecting Crucial COVID-19 Supplies with Healthcare Workers

Alto Pharmacy Launches Local Daily Delivery in Seattle Metro Area

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