Author: Tim Brinkley
Over the past several years emphasis has been placed on labels such as “essential employee” or “healthcare hero.” As you stop to ponder the spectrum of influencers in our local community, be certain to keep your local Pharmacist in the forefront of your thoughts.
All of us are familiar with the iconic look of our local pharmacist. Perhaps it’s the crisp white lab coats, or the strategically organized shelves of various bottles, bags, and packaging that first caught our attention, but it is the resources they provide to our community that keep us going back to them. Every day the Pharmacist is more than a simple dispenser of medication. They are counsel, wisdom, compassion, and the sort of comfort one needs during their most critical moments of health crisis.
Petersburg Home for Ladies has an extraordinary working relationship with Walnut Hill Pharmacy. In the late 1960s, Walnut Hill Pharmacy was located at 1949 South Sycamore Street and Gray’s Drug Store was located 1950 South Sycamore Street. In the year 1969 Tommy Lee, who was part owner of walnut Hill Pharmacy, purchased Gray’s Drug Store and combined both entities into the beloved organization we cherish today, keeping the name Walnut Hill Pharmacy and moving into the 1950 South Sycamore Street Location as a permanent new home. In the early 1990’s Tommy Lee and the team from Walnut Hill Pharmacy began working directly with local assisted living facilities, including Petersburg Home for Ladies, through a program called “Medicine-on-Time”.
This relationship grew during the next twenty years. In 2010 Jarrett Rockwell and Heather Pritchett (Scott), both employed as pharmacists, purchased Walnut Hill Pharmacy from Tommy Lee; who in turn remained on staff until the year 2016. Under new leadership, Walnut Hill Pharmacy continued the caring services and brilliant oversight that made them a destination for our local community.
While residents have the right to work with any Pharmacy of their choosing, Walnut Hill Pharmacy still plays a critical role in the daily operations of Petersburg Home for Ladies and in the lives of each of our ladies. In addition to filling prescriptions and packaging medication, Walnut Hill Pharmacy works directly with our front-line staff to input doctors’ orders into our electronic medication management system and acts as the first level of screening for safety checks and accuracy.
Doctors’ orders come with timeframes, expiration dates or even sliding scales which need to be interpreted against additional data. Walnut Hill Pharmacy works in collaboration with our nursing team as both the first and last stops in the process of medication management, properly initiating doctors’ orders and remaining available as orders are adjusted or discontinued. After filling orders and delivering medication, a process that truly never stops due to its cyclical nature, their job transitions into the role of overseer. Scheduled pharmacy reviews of our medication rooms, complete with medication cart audits and assistance with medication disposal are just a few of the many duties that come after the prescription has been filled. Outside of medication management, Walnut Hill Pharmacy provides our staff and residents with the opportunity to remain current on vaccinations such as the annual flu shot or COVID19 boosters.
Walnut Hill Pharmacy is a truly remarkable community partner. Their team is always available in support of our staff, residents and families. In honor of National Pharmacist Day, Petersburg Home for Ladies would like to thank everyone at Walnut Hill Pharmacy for providing high quality home health items, executing great counsel and advice, and procuring the best levels of technology to enhance all their services.