WOONSOCKET, R.I. – CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health, recently announced that it has completed the rollout of time-delay safes in all its 375 CVS Pharmacy locations in North Carolina, including pharmacies in Target stores.

The safes are anticipated to help prevent pharmacy robberies and the diversion of controlled-substance narcotic medications by keeping them out of the hands of unauthorized people.

In addition, the safes are expected to help CVS Pharmacy ensure the safety and well-being of customers and employees.

CVS Pharmacy says the time-delay safes will help deter pharmacy robberies – including those involving opioid medications such as oxycodone and hydrocodone – by electronically delaying the time it takes for pharmacy employees to be able to open the safe.

CVS Pharmacy implemented time-delay safes in Indianapolis in 2015 when the city was experiencing a high volume of pharmacy robberies.

The company saw a 70% decline in pharmacy robberies in the Indianapolis stores after the safes were installed.

“Pharmacy robberies are a challenging issue for every pharmacy, and we are committed to doing all we can to reduce the number of incidents in our North Carolina stores,” said Brian Bosnic, division leader for CVS.  “We have seen that time-delay safes, combined with other security policies and procedures in place at our stores, can greatly reduce these incidents and are pleased to roll out this enhanced security measure. These safes will help ensure that our pharmacies remain a safe environment for our patients and colleagues.”  

In 2020, the company will add 1,000 in-store safe medication disposal units to the more than 1,800 units currently in CVS locations nationwide.

It will also donate as many as 400 additional units to local police departments, in addition to the 1,000 units already donated.

Together, the existing medication disposal units have collected more than 1.1 million pounds of unwanted or expired medications, including 47,000 pounds in North Carolina.