Aspire Rx is a retail pharmacy that specializes in offering fast, friendly, personalized care that opened in January 2012, carrying basic products for first-aid, cold and flu, vitamins and minerals, cannabidiol (CBD) products and a variety of medical supplies. They offer free delivery, some level or compounding of medications and can order special medical equipment.

“We offer personalized care,” says pharmacy owner Hetal Patel, R.Ph., Pharm.D. “We are located across the street from a major retail chain pharmacy, however once patients experience us, they never want to go there. I know the majority of my customers’ names and medications histories without having to look them up. This is because I have taken the time to speak with them, listen to them about their health and their lives. Working at a large retail chain, you will never have more then two minutes to spend with a patient. The specialized touch that they feel when they come to our pharmacy is one of the biggest reasons they continue to come here.”

“We try our hardest to meet our patients’ needs. We shop around for products when they can’t find them anywhere else or if they are looking for a better price so they can afford it,” advises Patel. “For some people, time is of the essence, so we make sure they get what they need as quickly as possible. People love building that relationship, so we spend the time talking to them about their health and lives.”

Patel recalls, “When I was young, my father used to work as a store manager for Eckerd’s Drug. I never thought of becoming a pharmacist until I started working in a retail pharmacy in high school. I came to love it and started exploring that as a career. When I got into pharmacy school, he used to talk about how we would open a retail pharmacy and I would run the pharmacy and he would run the front store part. Well he passed away about a year after I graduated, so I never got a chance to work, with him but a few years later, my husband pushed me to take a leap of faith and pursue this on my own.”

Aspire RX employs mostly pharmacy students. “This is largely because that is how I started out,” says Patel. “As a pharmacy student, you have the basic knowledge of pharmacy, which helps on the work front, but also working here allows them to see if this an avenue they would like to take in their careers.”