WEST HARTFORD – Rachel Nentwick knows what it’s like to be a pharmacist who doesn’t have enough time for his customers.
At least, that was the experience Nentwick said she had at CVS, a company she now competes directly with.
As the head pharmacist of the newly opened West Hartford Pharmacy on Farmington Avenue, Nentwick aims to offer its new customers dedicated one-on-one time when they need it.
“We want to be a more welcoming neighborhood pharmacy,” Nentwick said. “CVS is very helpful with prescribing and location, but because it’s such a large company, the number is based on the pharmacist. You can’t give the patients personal experience and care, because you’re just trying to get through your day.”
The job here, she said, is making sure her customers are taken care of.
“We hope to have a more personal relationship with our patients and actually meet what they need,” Nentwick said. “We can do that because we are not guided by numbers. We want to take care of our patients and make them happy.”
Nentwick said they offer a few services that she believes make them unique. One, she said, is free delivery.
“We have a delivery person who allows us to make same-day delivery within 15 to 20 miles,” Nentwick said. “If it’s an emergency… we understand. We are not a company that can only say yes or no based on our policies. We can make those decisions ourselves and choose to go beyond our patients.”
Another service they perform, she said, is called compounding — the transformation of a prescription drug into a different shape or strength and creating a new product for a customer.
“It’s something that has always been present in pharmacies, but it’s no longer readily available to patients,” Nentwick said. “Compounding is taking the tablets and grinding them into powder forms, or whatever ingredients, and combining them into a new product for that patient.”
Nentwick said an example of compounding could be turning prescription pills into a different form of medicine for certain patients.
“In the case of a patient who needs a prescription for seizure medication…when they are 6 or 7 years old.” [years old] and can’t swallow capsules,” Nentwick said. “We have another patient who became nauseous from taking a tablet. If we did it in liquid form, she had no problem taking the medication. It’s much more personal.”
The company also partners with the Small Business Collective to offer a number of locally manufactured health and wellness products to customers.
“We know all these great Connecticut small businesses that are doing great things for the health and wellness community,” said Marsha Jacobskind, senior account strategist for Small Business Collective. “We were able to bring this unique set of products to West Hartford Center. It helps the health needs of the local community and helps the local economy by promoting these small businesses.”
Nentwick said so far the support they have received from the local community in the first few months of their business has been encouraging.
“Everything is going well so far,” Nentwick said. “We have a good amount of foot traffic. It was nice to see the community stop by to see what we do and what we offer. It was nice to be involved in the community and to get to know the community leaders because we want to be involved in the future.”
