Medic Pharmacy’s family-owned charm, established long ago, continues today with relatively new owners Bryant and Claire Sizemore. Founded by Pat and Janie Kauffman, the Bryant pharmacy has been serving the area for more than 40 years, striving to provide the very best service to the local community. 

Claire started working for Pat in 2012 after she graduated from pharmacy school. In January 2017, she and Bryant purchased the business and became its new owners. The Sizemores say they both always knew they wanted a career in the medical field. Bryant considered dentistry and Claire started down the path of physical therapy. However, they found that pharmacy was the best fit for both of them. Actually, pharmacy is the reason they are married–they met in pharmacy school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

They say they have enjoyed the opportunity to foster and build genuine relationships with customers, and they look forward to moving the pharmacy to its new location at the corner of Reynolds and Mills Park roads. “This will be the new and much-improved location of Medic Pharmacy, and we are so excited,” Bryant says.

Since taking ownership, the Sizemores have brought Medic Pharmacy into the 21st century. “We have implemented new computer software, a website and mobile app, which allows our customers to access their records and communicate with us from their smart phones,” Bryant says. 

Staying on task and remembering which medications to take and when can be difficult to manage. Obtaining all medications on the same day can help alleviate this burden. Bryant explains they started a program that allows customers with multiple prescriptions to fill all their meds on the same day each month.

 “They can let us know what they need filled in one phone call and pick up everything in one easy trip per month,” he says. “We can now also send text or email notifications when a prescription is ready to be picked up. These updates in technology and convenience are just small additions to the business model that has kept Medic thriving for over 40 years: great customer service.”

In the face of healthcare challenges, Bryant says keeping the focus on customers has been key. There are threats to the pharmacy business, especially local pharmacy business every day, he says. “For example, insurance companies reimbursing us below cost, mandated mail order pharmacy and employers forcing their employees to use only certain chain pharmacies rather than the pharmacy of their choice are just a few of the challenges we’re facing. That said, we have continued to provide superior service to this community, and we continue to grow. And I think we have much more growth and many successful years ahead.”

The new store will be more spacious and will allow Medic Pharmacy to carry a wider variety of products, Bryant says, such as medical equipment, breast pumps and lactation supplies, high-quality vitamins and nutrition supplements, and gift items.

“We will have a dedicated immunization room for providing shots, and Claire will have an office for lactation counseling. She is a certified lactation counselor and will have a dedicated space to expand her service in the new building. The new location will also offer the thing everyone has been waiting for–a drive-thru.”

Claire credits their success to their customer’s loyalty. “I am repeatedly amazed at the loyalty of so many of our customers,” she says. “We try to provide the best service in every possible way, and people appreciate that. Many of our customers have chosen to keep their business with us, even when their insurance plans require them to use certain chain or mail order pharmacies.”

     From a business owner’s standpoint, Claire says providing something unique is important in order to survive. “For us, I think those things are free delivery, a real live human answering every phone call, faces you recognize and who greet you by name when you walk in, a clerk running your prescriptions out to your car when it’s raining or when you have sleeping kids in the back, a monthly phone call reminder that it is time to fill your medicine, and an overall feeling that the Medic Pharmacy owners and employees care about your well-being.”

If they can be successful at their one store, Claire says perhaps they’ll entice others to own a pharmacy to provide the kind of service only an independent pharmacy can provide. “I also feel called to fill the void in breastfeeding support for women in our community,” she says. “Ultimately, I want my daughter to see me doing the things I love doing every day and strive to find that kind of fulfillment in her career someday. The feeling of having made even a tiny difference in someone’s day will never get old, and that may be my biggest motivator.’