Independent pharmacies play an essential role in communities nationwide, one that can be especially pronounced in rural areas where access to health care services is thinning. Tyler Dearing, PharmD, owns several stores in Central and Southern Oregon that are part of Cascadia Pharmacy Group, and finds his staff frequently filling gaps for patients who find it difficult to wait for appointments or travel long distances to see specialists. In that spirit, he is expanding free, one-on-one tobacco cessation counseling services to his four pharmacies. The pharmacies will maintain a bidirectional relationship with the state’s Tobacco Prevention and Education Program.
Other Cascadia pharmacies are implementing the model across Oregon, including former NCPA President Michele Belcher.
The effort builds on Cascadia’s “Small Pharmacy. Big Care” public awareness campaign, which is funded by the Oregon Health Authority and facilitated by the Oregon State University, that has put billboards up across southern Oregon directing residents to Bigcare.Video, a documentary highlighting what independent pharmacies can offer beyond filling prescriptions.
You can read more about Dearing’s efforts and the public awareness campaign here.
