Ivywild Pharmacy says it’s unable to fill prescriptions due to an ongoing internet outage

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Ivywild Pharmacy is going on day five with no internet or phone service after an 18-wheeler slid into two power poles behind the business.

At the height of the outage, Colorado Springs Utilities says 2,600 people were out of power. Though the outage was restored Thursday afternoon, Ivywild says its internet and phone service, which is provided through CenturyLink, has not been restored.

"We talked to the city, and we talked to CenturyLink, and we told them we need to fix this because we are concerned for our patients," said pharmacy co-owner Shannon Bethel.

The pharmacy says without internet or phone service, they can't fill prescriptions, confirm patient insurance information, or complete credit card transactions.

"They need their medications," said Bethel. "We just, that's what we do, you know, and you can't run a label. You can't do anything with the computer.

Colorado Springs Utilities said the crash happened at 9:20 a.m. Thursday.

"We heard a bang," said Shannon Bethel, co-owner of the Ivywild pharmacy, "and so we went outside. I pretty much immediately called CenturyLink."

Bethel said the internet service provider told her they would address the issue with a crew Friday, but because of the snow, the city prohibited the crew from working.

She told KRDO she called CenturyLink again Monday morning, and they said they would send a crew, but even once the issue is fixed, the pharmacy is facing challenges in the days to come due to a backlog of prescriptions to fill.