A Pahrump woman has collected more than 1,000 signatures in just over two and a half weeks that urge pharmacies in town to stay open later -- ideally 24 hours per day.

Loretta Hines was released from a Las Vegas hospital and then tried to get her prescription drugs filled at a local pharmacy. She needed to get medication for high blood pressure, but found no pharmacy was open at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night.

"People work odd hours and weekends in Pahrump," said Hines. Pharmacies typically open at 10 a.m. and close at mid-evening during the week. That makes it inconvenient to get to a pharmacy for filling prescriptions, she said.

"We're a 24-hour town," said Hines. Wal-Mart, the casinos and Smith's grocery stay open around the clock, she says, but not the pharmacies connected with the retail stores.

Wal-Mart's pharmacy stays open until 9 p.m. during the week; until 7 p.m. on Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Smith's pharmacy is open until 9 p.m. during the week; until 7 p.m. on Saturdays and 4 p.m. on Sundays.

"We have doubled in population in the past two years," said Hines. "There are more than enough people here and out in the surrounding communities that we should have a 24-hour pharmacy."

In point of fact, Pahrump's population in the past two years has grown by about 20 percent, from 30,500 in the first quarter of 2004 (March 31) to 36,600 in the first quarter of 2006 (State calculations for the second quarter are just now being prepared.)

Hines prepared five bound copies of the petition with signatures asking for extended hours at pharmacies. She plans to send them out to the town's four -- or five, counting the new hospital -- pharmacies.

Desert View Regional Medical Center has only an in-house pharmacy, Hines said, meaning that you have to be admitted to use it.

During the heat of the day in summer, many elderly people can't get out, she said, and pharmacies are closed by 9 p.m. at most places of business on weekdays.

"The hours haven't changed at all in the last three years," said Hines.

"Walgreens is supposed to be a 24-hour pharmacy," she says, but the drugstore's pharmacy closes at 10 p.m. during the week, at 6 p.m. on weekends.

"Even in small towns in Nebraska, pharmacies stay open later," she says, "and we get more people than Nebraska."

Pahrump's newest pharmacy -- the old Savon, connected to Albertson's grocery -- is now an independent CVS, which stands for "Customer Value and Service." The store's exterior exhibits signs boasting of changes to come, including easier pharmacy access.

"In the last two weeks I've gotten 1,000 signatures," Hines says. "That's a lot of potential revenue for the pharmacies."