Lisa Worth has owned Worthy Pharmacy in Olean for the last 10 months and really takes time to know her patients.

"Your patients become like your family and you can follow them when you have a better relationship with them,” said Worth.​

Patients like Joe Rich of Olean, who says he likes to support the area's small businesses as opposed to the larger chains for his medical needs.

"There's no personal touch to it all, so it really becomes a little more difficult working with the chains, than it does an independent,” said Rich.

Worth is one of a few independents across rural Cattaraugus County, an area recently identified in a national study as a health care desert.

The study broke down the needs of every county across the country, including many in New York state, identifying key medical services not available to patients, including access to pharmacies.

"It makes perfect sense," said Worth. "And yeah I do think we need to be able to offer services that we don't currently have to be able to tie the community together with the health care providers in the area."

Cattaraugus Public Health Director Dr. Kevin Watkins continues to review the community's health care data and agrees with the study indicating there is an adequate number of pharmacies, but no local access to trauma care, as patients have to travel about an hour to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo.

He says while Olean General is the only hospital in the county and while there a few other primary doctors, there still aren't enough specialty providers.

"It's urgent. Dermatologists. We may be in need of orthopedic surgeons. We may be in need of cardiologists. These are needs we have within our community,” said Dr. Watkins.

They're needs Worth is trying to meet by providing a continuity of care.

"We know people. We see people come into life in families, and we see people transition out of life in families. And we're there for all of that,” said Worth.

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