Pharmacy tries to meet customers' top priority

Moose Pharmacy has been completely remodeled, and has four private consultation and vaccination rooms.

Moose Pharmacy employee Wanda Rainey assists customer Dina Plummer with an ankle bandage. Photo by Shelley Smith, Salisbury Post.

Melissa Morgan, foreground, checks prescriptions for customers. In background, left to right, Rodney Eddinger, Kyle Yoder, Marie Hale and Hayley Weisberg are hard at work getting customers their medications within 15 minutes.

By Shelley Smithssmith@salisburypost.com

In 1882, the first Moose Pharmacy opened on Main Street in Mount Pleasant and has remained an independent and family-owned pharmacy for four generations.

In August, Moose Pharmacy opened its fourth store, this one in Salisbury at 1408 W. Innes St. at the previous location of Towne Pharmacy.

The pharmacy got a complete makeover and now has four consultation and vaccination rooms and a small waiting area.

Pharmacist and manager Kyle Yoder hopes to continue the Moose Pharmacy tradition of excellent customer service for Salisbury patients.

Moose Pharmacy offers a competitive generic prescription program.

"There's nothing like it around," Yoder said.

For example, if you take Zocor, you can receive a 100-day supply or 400-day supply, cutting costs and trips to the pharmacy. A 400-day supply of Zocor costs $56.

The pharmacy also offers three vaccinations: shingles, flu and pneumonia.

"As far as I know, we are the only pharmacy giving the shingles vaccine," Yoder said.

The pharmacy also offers compounding, which entails mixing drugs from raw ingredients and making them into liquids, creams, pastes or suckers. You can even get the compounded drugs in different flavors.

"The most popular is tutti frutti or grape," Yoder said, who also said that for compounding medications for dogs and cats, flavors of beef, chicken or tuna can be added.

Moose Pharmacy also offers medication therapy management.

"We will sit down with patients and go over their medications with them," Yoder said. "We will ask them whether cost, convenience or comfort is their top priority and will help them come up with alternatives that give them the same clinical benefits but cost less.

"We pride ourselves on customer service, which has allowed Moose Pharmacy to survive. We take care of the patients and all of their needs."

Yoder also promises a 15-minute maximum waiting time for filling prescriptions.

As of Oct. 1, Medicare and Medicaid require accreditation for billing medical equipment, such as diabetes test strips and nebulizer treatments.

"We are one of the few pharmacies in Salisbury who are accredited by Medicare and Medicaid," Yoder said. "All of the retail stores refer their patients to us because they're unable to do that."

"We inherited a great group of patients from Towne Pharmacy, and we are picking up new patients every day," said Yoder. "We are constantly on the cutting edge with clinical services.

"We are able to do everything any other pharmacy in North Carolina can do and are very happy to now be servicing Salisbury."

Moose Pharmacy is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Delivery services are also available.