Stanford students and their dependents with a sprained ankle or a case of the sniffles will soon have a new option from which to pick up medical supplies or prescriptions: Walgreens at Vaden. The nation’s second-largest drugstore pharmacy chain will operate Vaden’s pharmacy beginning June 24, Vaden’s executive director and Student Affairs Associate Vice Provost Jim Jacobs announced on Tuesday. Vaden’s pharmacy will close on June 14 before its reopening.

“Through this partnership with Walgreens,” Jacobs wrote in the online announcement, “our goal is to better serve all students (and dependents) on campus, not just those enrolled in Cardinal Care or the Dependent Plan.”

Students away from campus will have easy access to Walgreens at many of its locations across the U.S., he added, writing that students who currently use Vaden’s pharmacy can transfer prescription refills “immediately.”

In a statement to The Daily, Jacobs attributed the decision to a desire to enable students to tap into Walgreens’ network, as well as to expand the pharmacy’s insurance participation. The current pharmacy at Vaden accepts Cardinal Care and the Dependent Plan. Walgreens at Vaden, however, is expected to “participate with almost all U.S.-based health insurance plans with pharmacy benefits,” as is true at other Walgreens locations in California.

In 2017-18 academic year, he said, Vaden’s pharmacy filled approximately 16,500 prescriptions. With the wider variety of insurance plans accepted, he said, this figure is expected to at least double.

“Multiple value-added services, such as vaccine administration, are under consideration and will be introduced incrementally in partnership with Walgreens,” he added.

More information on services the pharmacy will be provided and its hours of operation will be made available on Vaden’s website “in the coming weeks,” Jacobs wrote in his online announcement.

Contact Charlie Curnin at ccurnin ‘at’ stanford.edu.