What’s your favorite Principle? Why?

Invest in Relationships. Relationships are what built Wellness Pharmacy and our relationships with one another are what keep it going. We truly invest in each others’ lives and it shows in how we work together. We are a diverse group of ages — we are all in different seasons of life — but we understand what is important to our coworkers, so it is important to us. These relationships build the foundation of how we treat and interact with our patients and prescribers as well.

How do you live these Principles at your pharmacy?

Principle #3 — Do the Right Thing, Always

It’s never a question — when in doubt, make it right, even if it wasn’t our fault. If you don’t know, ask. We encourage a culture of approaching one another with concerns and questions, not to get anyone in trouble, but to make us all better. Trust is important to all of us; we work hard to earn it and even harder to maintain it.

Principle #19 — Lead By Example

Any day at Wellness, you might see the owner putting garbage in the dumpster or a pharmacist not taking lunch so the technician can take a break. It’s what we do; we are a team and we support one another. The degree of dedication, respect and caring shown for one another is truly amazing.

Principle #26 — Treasure, Promote and Protect Our Reputation

This Principle is especially important to us. Wellness is a third-generation, family-owned pharmacy. We understand how important it is to honor the history of the pharmacy while protecting its reputation. Wellness began as a retail pharmacy when the current owner’s father, Bob Harbin, opened Bob’s Discount Drugs in 1964. Rod joined his father in 1971 and in the mid-1980s, introduced nutritional supplements and compounding. The pharmacy joined PCCA in 1992 and began marketing their compounding services. Rod shook a lot of hands and built relationships with prescribers and eventually changed the name to Wellness Pharmacy. His two sons, Rod Jr. and Mat, joined him in the early 2000s to continue the family business.

How did you start compounding? What led you to PCCA?

I joined the Wellness team 25 years ago, selfishly looking for a better work schedule than the retail pharmacy I was working at, but quickly fell in love with compounding. I had been exposed to compounding in pharmacy school but never truly understood the limitless options compounding offered until joining Wellness. I attended a PCCA compounding course my first year with Wellness and quickly decided I would never want to do anything else. Compounding allows me to serve patients while continuously learning, which I enjoy.

When it comes to “Meaningful Appreciation (#25),” when was the last time a patient thanked you and why?

It’s so rewarding to hear the words “thank you” from our patients and we hear them a lot. They appreciate our kindness and customer service. At the end of the day, patients want to feel welcomed, heard and understood, which is not usually their experience in a chain pharmacy.

We recently received a note from one our prescribers thanking us for always taking good care of his patients and how much they appreciate us going above and beyond their expectations.

As a “Lifelong Learner (#13),” what’s your favorite PCCA education program or event and why?

PCCA HRT Symposium. Every time I attend one of the HRT meetings, I learn something new to bring back to help us serve our patients and share information with my coworkers. With our pharmacy being mostly women and of all ages, they are personally interested in the topics discussed at the HRT meetings. It is important as pharmacists that we understand the need to continue to educate ourselves. The fascinating thing about medicine (especially with hormone replacement therapy) is it’s always evolving, and we need to do the same to do the best for our patients.

How do you “Keep Things Fun (#28)” at your pharmacy?

At Wellness, we are truly a family and celebrate everything together: birthdays, holidays, weddings, graduations, births. We are always looking for a reason to have cake. My personal favorite celebration is Pharmacy Technician Day in October. It’s our opportunity to show our technicians how much we appreciate them and all they do every day.

As you strive to “Deliver Results (#24),” what’s been your most satisfying patient experience or toughest patient problem?

There have been so many over the years but the ones that are most memorable involve the children we have had the opportunity to serve.

We met one of our first patients with autism when she was around six years old; we came to know and love her and her family. We were new to the developing interventions, as were her parents, but we learned together. Her biggest challenges were socialization and speech. Through many years of compounded medications — including methylcobalamin and oxytocin — she was able to graduate high school. We were all thrilled to be invited to her graduation party. She now attends a local college and has her own dorm room on campus.

I’ll never forget another autistic patient we met when he was only three years old. The first day he came into our pharmacy, he seemed scared, wouldn’t make eye contact with us and actually cleared all the products from our shelves before he left. In the beginning, it was difficult for him to take his prescribed medications, but after working with his parents and prescribers, we were able to compound the medications he needed to improve. He is now 15 and when he walks in the pharmacy, he gives us all a big hug.

As a member of PCCA, what’s the biggest “aha” that’s come from “Being Curious (#10)”?

As Wellness has been blessed with growth over the years, the challenge has been how can we do it better? Quality is important to us, not only in our compounded medications, but for our compounders and our facility. We empower our staff to be a partner in this endeavor. Whether it be investing in sending compounders to PCCA for continuous training or exploring new technology or equipment to allow them to improve processes, it’s all about better solutions for our patients.

Our PCCA team focuses on “Delivering Legendary Service (#8).” What’s a “WOW” moment you’ve had as a member of PCCA?

We recently met a patient with interstitial cystitis that she had been battling for over two years. Each time she would finish her round of oral antibiotics, her symptoms would return. The only option her urologist offered was IV antibiotics, which meant she had to have a PICC line implanted. Her functional medicine physician found a study on a much higher dose of N-acetylcysteine than we were familiar with. We were able to work with the consultant team at PCCA to provide her with a custom formulation with a 14-day beyond-use date (BUD). We were able to arrange for someone to take it to her and that meant the world to her. Our hope is if this therapy is helpful to her, it can also help other patients struggling with this condition.

In terms of “Innovating Everywhere (#10-14),” what’s your favorite PCCA base and why?

VersaBase® Cream for so many reasons. The compounders in the nonsterile lab LOVE how easy it is to work with, our patients LOVE with way it feels when they apply mediations, and everyone LOVES the numerous FormulaPlus™ options to allow for longer BUDs. It’s a win for everyone!

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Wellness Pharmacy is not the building or the medications in it; it is the people within it that work each and every day like they own the place.