Meijer Honored by Michigan Primary Care Association for Leadership in Promoting Health of Michigan...( Free antibiotic and pre-natal vita...),Health

Free antibiotic and pre-natal vitamin programs help millions of Meijer

customers

LANSING, Mich., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Grand Rapids-based retailer Meijer received the Legacy of Leadership award in recognition of its free antibiotic and free pre-natal vitamin programs. The award was presented during the 29th Annual Distinguished Service Awards luncheon of Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA), the nonprofit membership organization that represents Community Health Centers and other community-based providers in Michigan.

"The Michigan Primary Care Association Legacy of Leadership Award annually recognizes the performance of exemplary leadership to benefit Michigan Community Health Center patients, many of whom are low-income and/or uninsured," said Kim Sibilsky, Executive Director, MPCA. "Just as health care at Michigan Community Health Centers is available to everyone regardless of ability to pay or insurance status, so are antibiotic and pre-natal vitamin prescriptions through Meijer. MPCA and our 32 member Health Centers applaud the company's ground-breaking initiatives to help improve the health of Michigan residents."

Meijer launched its free "no strings attached" antibiotics program in October 2006 to benefit customers throughout the Midwest. Two years later, 2.7 million prescriptions for leading oral generic antibiotics have been filled free of charge, saving Meijer customers more than $45 million. The program places a special focus on prescriptions most often filled for children.

This past June, Meijer launched a second program to fill, free of charge, doctors' prescriptions for pre-natal vitamins for women who are pregnant or planning to have children. This pre-natal vitamin program is just one more way Meijer is helping families stay healthy, especially during these difficult economic times. Already, more than 50,000 free pre-natal vitamin prescriptions have been given away, saving cust
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