Independent Pharmacies ‘Fill an Increasingly Important Need in Communities’

Pharmacy Times^® interviewed Brian Nightengale, president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy, on how his outlook for the future of independent community pharmacy.

During the discussion, Nightengale explains that despite the real and important challenges that exist for independents today, he remains very optimistic about what lies ahead for independent community pharmacy.

Alana Hippensteele: Do you have any closing thoughts?

Brian Nightengale: Yeah, we've talked about a lot of challenging things. There are certainly very real and important challenges for independents that must be addressed, but I do remain very optimistic about the future of independent community pharmacy.

I mean, they fill an increasingly important need in the communities that they serve, they are the most accessible health care provider in their communities, and they do provide that high-touch level of care that does directly improve patient outcomes.

So, in my opinion, they're an untapped, and sometimes underappreciated resource, and I think that because of the focus of the COVID vaccinations, there's going to be a lot more people that come out of that experience that now have a better appreciation for what independent community pharmacies can do. There'll be many that have never gone to an independent community pharmacy until they got their vaccination.

So again, I just think that even with all these challenges, they're a resilient part of our profession, and there's a lot of things to be optimistic about, and there's a lot of momentum towards correcting and solving some of these issues that they're dealing with. So, a lot of work ahead, but I think there's a lot to be optimistic about as well.