Filling a need: neighborhood pharmacy steps up to support vaccine rollout
Global pharmaceutical companies may have developed them, and federal and state policymakers may be moving them throughout the country, but the end point of all Covid-19 vaccinations is at the tip of a local needle.
At Rochester Community Pharmacy, 120 Elton Hills Lane NW, the full weight of that logistical puzzle falls squarely on the shoulders of one woman, owner and pharmacist Dr. Seyi Faseemo. It’s a familiar sort of pressure for an independent pharmacist.
“If you are an independent, if you are in this space, you will have to be creative. Innovation is important. You have to be able to solve problems, some without even having seen it before. To be able to think. And that applies to everything we do. There's so many things I do here that I've never seen anywhere before,” Faseemo says.
She motions to her beloved-by-seniors ‘free basket,’ brimming with pill organizers, pens, magnets, and other useful miscellany. She points out pamphlets left by nonprofit Supportive Guidance, who she is hosting for free food for those in need, and mentions special considerations for her customers. There’s also space on her counter for local business owners to advertise for free. Currently, it’s covered up by a Covid infographic.
The pandemic has given her more pressing matters than covered signs, however. Earlier this year, when Faseemo learned that vaccine doses would be available, she had 24 hours to draw up a registration form and develop a roll system to keep track of patients. Then, the first batch of doses promised to the store was delayed by storms in the south. Her phone lines filled up with people clamoring to be put on a waiting list. But as time passed, people got their shots elsewhere and neglected to remove themselves from the list, leading to hours of fruitless phone calls. The situation was growing stressful. Then the community Faseemo has worked to embrace squeezed her hand back.
“Rochester is blessed. We have retired doctors, retired nurses, that came to me and said, ‘I’m going to help. Put down my name and my number.’ I have them here, ready to go … and I never made any call to any of them. They come, and they say, ‘What can we do? We saw you on TV, and we think you need help.’ I am more than grateful,” she says. “Honestly, that puts my mind at rest — to know that I have the support.”
To accommodate the influx of vaccine-seekers, Faseemo lobbied her landlord to use a vacant retail space next door as a waiting and observation room for vaccinations. The pharmacy received its first shipment of doses on Tuesday, March 16. All 102 doses were distributed by the next day. One volunteer, a Mayo Clinic retiree, administered the shots. She still had 500 people on her waiting list after that.
Faseemo has since done away with the waiting list, and now offers walk-in appointments on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or until doses run out). Her allotment of doses varies from week to week.
“People are happy to have a solution. And that's the reason why I'm in pharmacy; to be there and be able to help people,” says Faseemo.
“So far, everybody has made their way in here,” she adds. “And for obvious reasons. This is life-saving.”
'You’re not just a number, you’re a person'
Faseemo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she spent time hanging out in a family friend’s independent pharmacy. She worked as a tech there after high school and saw firsthand how the husband and wife pharmacist team helped people in their community. In 2000, she earned her bachelor’s in pharmacy from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. She completed her doctorate of pharmacy from the University of Colorado in 2017, after pursuing it while working full time.
She and her husband moved from Nigeria to Corpus Christi, Texas, where Faseemo enjoyed the climate and worked in a hospital’s inpatient pharmacy, handling IVs and intravenous medications. She worked one week on, one week off — and on weeks she was off, she kept her retail pharmacist skills sharp by working at a Walmart pharmacy. Her friends made fun of her for the extra work, but she was keen to keep as many options open as possible. She and her husband left Texas when they were recruited by the Canadian government to work, and eight years ago, the family wound up in Rochester to be closer to her husband’s siblings and the Mayo Clinic, where he works.
Faseemo started working at a retail pharmacy in Rochester. After a shift to a more corporate approach in that pharmacy, she felt called to build her own version of a pharmacy.
“To me, pharmacy is not just about the numbers; I like to know people and relate with them,” she says.
Se used her down time to consider her options. She talked with owners of nursing homes and group homes to see if they would support her as an independent pharmacist. The city’s Weber and Judd locations had gone out of business and created an opening.
“People that like family-based pharmacy will always prefer independent [pharmacies]. You’re not just a number, you’re a person. They come in, we know their names, we talk to them,” she says.
Once she felt confident that she had support, she found a location, completed all the paperwork for the state, then resigned from her retail position to avoid any conflict of interest.
After moving their store a year ago from behind the old Family Video location on Elton Hills Drive, she’s noticing more foot traffic. That includes people walking in off the street for Covid-19 vaccines.
When she had extra doses, instead of throwing them away, she put up signs in her storefront and posted on Facebook. Within an hour, the extra doses were gone.
As vaccines continue to arrive and more shots go into more arms, Faseemo looks forward to a return to normal. Until then, “the support of your family and friends will see you through,” she says, noting that her daughter has stepped up as a part-time tech, while her son drives delivery. “The older ladies prefer him to me,” she laughs.
Bryan Lund is a Rochester writer, youth mentor, and Med City Beat contributor.
