Wellness
good Medicine
Customedica Pharmacy offers unparalleled
On a typical day, Shah, a self-effacing, gracious man, moves quietly
customer service and custom-prepared
among the customers, greeting them by name, shaking hands, asking
medications.
one man about his health, assuring a mother that her child’s refill will be
taken care of. The pharmacy is tastefully decorated in muted blues and
greens, with curving walls and soft light, the antithesis of the vinyl tile
storyliza Walton floored, fluorescent lit chain store experience. Julia Davis, an Eagle resi-
photographyotto kitsinger
dent and regular Customedica patron, says, “I know Shah will take care of
me. He’s a good man. We are lucky to have him in our community.”
T
ucked into a small brick building near the Eagle Library and
Shah credits his staff with the pharmacy’s success. “We provide a level
City Hall, the past meets the future at Customedica, a small lo-
of skill and expertise that is unparalleled,” he says. The pharmacy has two
cally owned compounding pharmacy. Customedica opened in
full time pharmacists on staff and serves as an incubator for aspiring
Eagle seven years ago with a mission to provide customers with
pharmacists. All of its technicians are college graduates, and all are plan-
medically necessary medications no longer manufactured by larger
ning on pursuing advanced degrees in pharmacy.
pharmaceutical companies. The pharmacy, owned by Shah Ashfar,
A native of Iran, Shah earned a B.S. in pharmacy in 1979 from the Uni-
also specializes in custom preparations, ranging from bioidentical
versity of Idaho. After graduating, he decided to open his own all night
hormone injections and creams to specially designed topical anti-
drive-through pharmacy across the street from St. Luke’s Hospital in Boi-
inflammatory analgesics.
se. In 1994, he moved his pharmacy to a location on Emerald, eventually
Though custom preparations are the cornerstone of the busi-
becoming the largest closed
ness, Customedica also fills regular prescriptions as a convenience
door home infusion pharmacy
for its customers. “We want to be the place you come for all your
in the state.
family’s prescription needs,” says Ashfar, or “Shah” as all his custom-
He sold that business to a
ers refer to him.
national company in 1999 and
Customedica compounds medications that are not convention-
took a two year hiatus before
ally available because they are no longer commercially viable to
deciding to open Custom-
larger pharmaceutical companies. The pharmacy features an on-
edica.. Some of his colleagues
site clean room where sterile medicines can be compounded in a
were skeptical about the ven-
pathogen-free environment. Laura Stott, Customedica’s marketing
ture’s success. But Shah was
director and a trained technician who has been with the pharma-
sure that by emphasizing a
cy almost since the beginning, notes that very few compounding
positive customer experi-
pharmacies have a clean room.
ence he could attract and re-
The pharmacy makes homeopathic preparations, veterinary
tain customers. “I felt that the
medicines, and specialized injections—that’s right, you can even
professional pharmacy was
get your dog’s arthritis pills here. They can tailor doses specifically
losing its authenticity as the
to the patient’s needs—providing precise doses for premature in-
chains began to dominate the
fants, for example. Customedica also focuses on food and nutrition,
market,” he says. “I wanted to
providing the highest quality nutritional supplements available on
provide a modern pharmacy with traditional values, one that focused on
the market today.
customer service.”


July/august 2009 51
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