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Chronister Pharmacy dates to the 1920s
By Jody Grismore Vance
Chronister Pharmacy has a long history – probably longer than most realize. This “drug store” business was actually founded in the 1920’s and purchased by Max White after WWII. Then, says Rick Parish, “Dick Chronister bought it in the late 50’s—and Tom Chronister became majority shareholder in the 80’s…so for the last 50 years, it’s been with the Chronister name.” And that is longer than many in Kendallville can remember – or, for that matter, have been alive.
Chronister’s used to be on S. Main St., as in this 1985 photo, and the gift store was separate. It moved to Publix Square in 1990. (Kendallville Mall photo courtesy of Chronister Pharmacy)
It used to be when you thought of a drug store, you thought of a soda fountain with it. There was a time Parish says when the law stated the actual pharmacy area of a store could not be less than 10% of the store’s total sq. footage.
Not anymore. Not with the big box stores and the supermarkets.
But it isn’t just the physical presence of a pharmacy service that has changed. It is also in the way that business is done now. Parish, who graduated from Purdue in 1977, says, “The pharmacy has changed a lot; back when I started we used paper; we wrote things out and we used typewriters. It was a slower lifestyle because you made more money per prescription, so you didn’t have to fill as many to be viable.”
Still, he says, “There are some advantages to being an independent drugstores—a lot, in fact. We do things that a lot of others won’t. We deliver for free in the Kendallville, Avilla and Albion areas.” He continues, “The main difference, though, is when you walk into our store, you’re going to deal almost always with a pharmacist.
“We answer our phones. We don’t have voicemail—push one number for this, another for that. You always get a person when you call, which is unique in these days.”
Remarking that the main points are speed and customer service, Parish adds, “What we are selling is ourselves—our ability to stand there and talk to people, to get to know people…to do what it takes to take care of whatever the problem.”
According to Parish, Chronister’s is the busiest pharmacy in town and he says, “We must be doing something right.”
Well, they do a lot of things.
When it comes to medicine, per se, they don’t just distribute it; they make it as well. Chronister’s is a compounding pharmacy, the only one in Noble County; there is another one in the northern part of Fort Wayne, one in Auburn and DeKalb PharmaCare. They are a certified compounding pharmacy and they have gone to Houston for specialized training to keep up to date on the techniques and skills of literally making medicine.
Parish says, “Many times, medicines are off the market and you can’t get them anymore. Well, we make them.” He cites a common malady and says, “Dr. Ramsey has a favorite syrup he uses for sore throat. It was taken off the market a few ago, so we make it for him.”
It can be a lot more serious than a sore throat. Parish speaks of people in end stage disease and comments, “They require specialized medicine and we can compound it. We make medicines that can’t be commercially provided and we do a lot with Hospice. A lot.”
As an example, he cited inhaled morphine: “Nebulizing morphine helps relax chests which tighten up with emphysema and lung cancer and it reduces secretions…We make that stuff up and people breathe easier.”
Summing it up he says, “The point is we make a lot of special stuff: transdermal creams for people who can’t be injected or they can’t swallow and don’t want a suppository. We can put it in a cream that will carry it through the skin.”
And they offer a different kind of medicine, as well. Parish says, “There aren’t specific things that you can say that every cancer patient or every terminal patient will benefit from. Every person is going to have a particular set of circumstances, and we’re there to answer questions. We have to do whatever that situation requires – go out of our way…We have to because they have a whole new set of circumstances and everything changes.
“We don’t see the (Hospice) patient much because when people are at end stage, they don’t come in, so we see the caregivers. We talk to them about how you give the pain medicine, how you give the anxiety medicine; we spend a lot of time with the caregivers.”
The caregivers are under a great deal of stress themselves and Parish refers to personal experience with this: “It’s a very, very difficult process to watch someone die. We just went through that when my father died last July; there is nothing easy about it…it’s just one of the things we can provide some help and comfort for.”
Chronister’s also has a nurse on staff who is there Monday, Wednesday and Friday; she does injections, such as free vaccines, but a large part of her work concerns hormone replacement therapy. She works closely with the patient and doctor to monitor the hormone levels in your system through saliva testing. The dosage is then individualized. In addition, this approach avoids the pitfalls of synthesized hormones that are produced using horses (mares). The mare has 42 estrogens and humans have three and Parish points out “(synthesized hormone medicine) has had a lot of problems over the years.”
He concludes, “Natural hormones in replacement therapy is much more safe with very few side effects—if any—if the dose is right. It just replaces what you had—as opposed to putting in something synthetic, which may have a set of problems you don’t need.”
Parish acknowledges that it is time-consuming for the nurse and pharmacy, but says, “We charge for the prescription; we don’t charge for the service.”
There is another benefit to being able to directly talk with the nurse. Parish says, “She’s empathetic and very knowledgeable, that can go a long way toward relieving the symptoms women can get. She’s a great gal, did home health care for years, outstanding, very bright gal, she really is.”
One aspect of that everyone is aware of is the cost—the price of prescriptions has climbed. Parish states, “When I first started here in the 70’s, the average prescription cost eight dollars. Now it is over $60, and if you take out generics, the average is $100 per prescription. It’s amazing.”
The reason for this, as Parish explains, is that the patients (the customers) aren’t paying the bulk of the prescription cost, maybe aren’t aware of it. The insurance companies are. He asks, “If you were manufacturing something and the final customer didn’t care what the price was, what would you do with the price?”
He says, “Those insurance companies pay the bills and they have no vested interest in us. They just don’t, and they continue to cut what we get reimbursed: squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
“The only way we have of making up for that is to try to do more of it, but insurance is attacking that too because of mail order pharmacy.” In addition, insurance companies are imposing restrictions. Parish says, “We are stuck in the middle, because we have to conform to all the rules, and those rules change from company to company.”
Yes, the pharmacy business has changed and there is stress – but at Chronister’s, three pharmacists – Rick Parish, Tom Chronister and Bill Fenstermaker – are doing business the way they always have when it comes to the customers…doing what they can to meet their needs.
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