Going above and beyond
The pandemic showed the nation how valuable pharmacies and pharmacists are to public health. But the pharmacists profiled here have proven that their value as members of the community extends well beyond dispensing needed prescriptions. These individuals have stepped up to perform heroic actions that illustrate the role that pharmacists can play not only in helping people live healthier lives, but in some cases actually saving lives.
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Lori Altman Tackles Diabetes and More
Jon and Lori Altman, the husband-and-wife team that owns Bayboro Pharmacy & Wellness Center in Bayboro, N.C., have made it their mission to make a difference in the health of their customers in Pamlico County.
Many Pamlico residents lack easy access to healthcare services, and they often end up using urgent care clinics or emergency rooms for routine health issues, Jon explained.“A lot of folks have a difficult time getting to primary care, and so they really turn to us a lot for their triage,” he said.
Since acquiring the pharmacy, a member of the Good Neighbor Pharmacy network, 14 years ago, the Altmans have zeroed in on some of the region’s most pressing needs. They have implemented a well-regarded diabetes management and education program, among other initiatives that help patients improve their health through lifestyle, diet and nutrition.
Pamlico County is part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s so-called ”diabetes belt” and has a very high rate of diabetes per capita. Recognizing this need, the Altmans partnered with the local health department to create a diabetes education and outreach program, which includes a classroom in their pharmacy.
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Lori Altman, who is the pharmacist at the store—her husband Jon had a career in law enforcement before they purchased the pharmacy —said many people in the area have long accepted an eventual diabetes diagnosis as their fate, and as a result did little to better protect their health over the long term.
“They just think it’s their plight in life that they have diabetes, like their mother and grandmother and aunts and uncles,” Lori said. “We are changing that mindset and showing people that you don’t have to lose a toe or lose a foot, and you don’t have to have kidney failure. There’s a different way, and it’s not that hard.”
Lori Altman said she recognized early on that many of the sickest patients who came into the pharmacy were the ones suffering from diabetes.
“When we purchased the pharmacy, I wanted to move into a much more clinical space, and we started being much more proactive rather than reactive with our patient care,” she said.
In recognition of their services to their community, Bayboro Pharmacy & Wellness Center was recently recognized with the 2024 Clinical Care Champion award from Good Neighbor Pharmacy.
Angie Balla Uses Her CPR Training to Save a Coworker
Angie Balla just happened to be filling in for another pharmacist at a Houston Kroger one day this past February when some employees came back to the pharmacy area reporting that another coworker was lying face-down and unconscious in a back room.
Balla recruited some help from her coworkers to roll the man, who was considerably larger than her, onto his back. Her training in administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation kicked in, and she immediately began checking his vital signs. He was unresponsive, he was not breathing and he did not have a pulse.
“I just did what I needed to do,” said Balla. “I started doing [chest] compressions, and I just kept thinking, ‘I can't stop.’”
She didn’t have a pocket mask—a tool for giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation—handy, and didn’t want to stop to go find one, so she just stuck with doing chest compressions, she explained.
After she administered several series of compressions, Balla helped another co-worker take over until paramedics arrived within about 10 minutes, she said. The paramedics were able to continue the chest compressions until suddenly the patient took a deep breath. After having surgery to have stents installed to open up his arteries, the patient has recovered and has been doing well, Balla said.
In recognition of her actions, Kroger awarded Balla its All Safe Angel Award, which the company presents to workers who perform a life-saving activity.
“I think the only advantage that I had is that I teach CPR, so I didn't panic,” said Balla. “I knew exactly what I needed to do.”
Balla has been trained in CPR since 1993 when she was a Girl Scout leader, and she has remained on top of her coursework ever since.
Hurricane Beryl wasn’t Balla’s first time working on the pharmacy front lines during a major storm. After Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017, Balla managed the Pharmacy Mobile Trailer at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, providing medications and counseling to displaced families. Balla also stepped up to serve her community during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing vaccines at mass-immunization sites in Houston.
“I had the privilege of providing an astronaut their first COVID vaccine,” said Balla.
Balla has been a staff pharmacist with Kroger for 17 years, and previously had worked for the company as a pharmacy technician.
She also encourages the technicians that she works with to consider careers in community pharmacy, she said. In addition, she’s proud that her 31-year-old daughter is now following in her footsteps and working as a pharmacist at Kroger.
Dreier Pharmacy Epitomizes Community Service
Tim Dreier and his sister, Jessica Dreier-Huntington, both pharmacists, have gone above and beyond the basic requirements of operating their pharmacies many times in order to provide extraordinary service to their patients.
In one instance, Tim Dreier noticed that a patient was prescribed a potentially lethal dose of medication and was able to intervene on her behalf. Dreier said he noticed that the dosage prescribed—an immediate release fluphenazine injection every two weeks—did not appear to be correct.
He tried calling the prescribing doctor and was told that the prescribed dosage was listed in her chart, but Dreier persisted, knowing that that dosage must be incorrect. Luckily, he had some contacts at the hospital that was affiliated with the patient’s clinic, and they confirmed his suspicions.
“They agreed with me 100%,” Dreier said. “We did get the issue corrected, but it took almost a week of phone calls.”
That’s just one example of how conscientious and community-minded the pharmacy is, said Jessica Dreier-Huntington.“We have a great community, and lots of wonderful people, and we do whatever we can to help.”
The pharmacy, which was founded by their father in 1967, remains a family owned and operated business, with a third generation involved. The location was recently named the Health Mart Pharmacy of the Year for 2024.
Dreier Pharmacy also has long-standing relationships with two local Native American nations, the Stockbridge Munsee and the Menominee. Dreier Pharmacy’s relationships with local Native American nations date back to when the current owners’ father owned the pharmacy, Tim Dreier said.
When the Stockbridge Munsee nation’s pharmacy’s computer system went down during a recent busy holiday season, Dreier Pharmacy stepped in and fulfilled the needed prescriptions for the patients.
“We were doing the workload of two pharmacies at one of the busiest times of the year,” said Dreier, who credited his staff with stepping up to meet the needs of the moment. “I don’t think any other pharmacy would have been able to handle it in our area.”
Dreier Pharmacy also has an ongoing, formal relationship with the Menominee nation through which Dreier Pharmacy serves as the preferred pharmacy provider on days when the Menominee clinic pharmacy is closed, such as weekends and certain holidays. Dreier Pharmacy also helps by providing prescriptions that are not part of the clinic’s formulary, he said.
Cynthia Khatcherian Goes the Extra Mile During Hurricane
This past July, while much of the Houston metro area was in the dark in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, Cynthia Khatcherian brought some much-needed light into the lives of one of her customer’s families.
Khatcherian, a pharmacy manager at a CVS in Houston, was at her store, which was without power in the wake of the Category 1 storm, trying to prepare for the electricity to return. Suddenly the store manager, who was also working at the store, alerted her that a customer was outside seeking to obtain a critical anti-seizure medication for his son.
“The first thing I asked was whether or not it was a controlled substance,” Khatcherian said. “As soon as he said it was a controlled substance, I knew it was going to be tricky.”
If the medication had not been a controlled substance, he could have gone to another pharmacy and had the prescription filled, Khatcherian explained. Both Khatcherian and the patient’s father were hopeful that the power at the store would come back later that day, but it did not.
After discussing the situation with the patient’s father, she learned how critical the situation was. The patient was down to his last dose, and needed the prescription refilled by 10 a.m. the next day. The nature of the patient’s illness required that he take the medication at the same time each day in order to prevent the return of potentially life-threatening seizures.
“I said, ‘Don’t worry, I will try to figure out a way to get this medication to you,’” she told the worried father.
Khatcherian discussed the situation with her district leader and was able to confirm that she was legally able to dispense the prescription in this situation even without access to the computer system. She also learned that the prescription had already been filled and was in one of the dispensing bins ready for pickup.
The next day she went back to the store, which still had no power, and searched in the dark for the medication, and was able to find it with less than an hour to spare.
She let the patent’s father know she found the medication, and he soon showed up at the store, thank-you card in hand. They had an emotional in-person meeting at the store at that time, and Khatcherian said he has continued to express his gratitude to her ever since.
Bernard Quansah Acts Quickly to Save a Life
Bernard Quansah, a pharmacy manager who saved a patient’s life using Narcan Nasal Spray,said he hopes that increased awareness of the treatment’s benefits will help reduce any social stigma associated with opioid overdose.
The Ohio pharmacist was getting ready to close up his Walgreens pharmacy for the night when another employee rushed over to report that a person was having a medical emergency in front of the store.
“Out of instinct, I just grabbed Narcan, and ran out of the store,” said Quansah.
The patient was unresponsive, and someone who was with the patient said that the person had overdosed. Quansah’s training kicked in and he immediately began administering the Narcan, squeezing the spray treatment in first one nostril, then the other after there was no response to the first dose within a few minutes.
He checked to see if the patient had a pulse, but he could not detect one, so he began doing chest compressions. Another person who was with the patient had started performing mouth resuscitation.
Within about 10 minutes, Quansah was able to detect a faint pulse, and he tried to clear people away from the patient in case the patient woke up in an agitated state. The patient began to regain consciousness shortly before the emergency personnel arrived.
Quansah said he believes the Narcan successfully counteracted what appeared to be an opioid overdose, but the CPR efforts also contributed to reviving the patient. Quansah was trained in the use of Narcan during pharmacy school and as part of his Basic Life Support training.
He said he’s hoping that his actions on that day encourage more conversation about the use of Narcan, to help eliminate any stigma that may be associated with the treatment. Not all patients who need the treatment are drug addicts, he explained. Some could be children who got ahold of the medication, or they could also be legitimate users of opioid painkillers who accidentally take multiple doses, for example.
Quansah was recognized by his local county’s emergency response team for his efforts.
“I don’t want the conversation to stop here, and have people say, ‘He got an award for it,” said Quansah. “After a couple of years, nobody is going to remember the award. But if the conversation continues from here, another person might get saved because someone will have access to that knowledge.”