By McKenna Horsley
Aaron McIntosh said that treating others like family is Capital Pharmacy and Medical Equipment’s philosophy when it comes to customers and employees.
McIntosh and his wife Tera have owned Capital Pharmacy, located at 662 E. Main St., since 2011. He started working at the pharmacy in 2002 after finishing pharmacy school. McIntosh said Mac and Eileen Bray opened the pharmacy in 1986.
McIntosh said the pharmacy’s 30 employees, which includes five pharmacists, work together like a family. He also said that treating customers like family is important to him and his employees.
“My wife and I aren’t from this area, so we don’t have actual family here. This is our family,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh and his family live in Midway, but feel as if they are a part of Frankfort through church and community service, he said.
McIntosh went to Centre College and worked at an independent pharmacy during that time. He began to enjoy the work and started thinking about pharmacy school and owning his own pharmacy.
“My dad always told me to try something out before I do it,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh said that he enjoys pharmacy work because it allows him to take care of others. One service that McIntosh is proud the pharmacy offers is compounding medicine. Capital Pharmacy works with its customers’ doctors to create personalized medicine as needed.
One kind of medicine the pharmacy compounds is pregestational suppositories that pregnant women could be prescribed in the first trimester. McIntosh said the pharmacy gets to know these women as they regularly come into pick up their medicine for a few months. Later, after their babies are born, employees may see them in the community.
“I may not have played a huge part, but maybe I helped a little bit,” McIntosh said.
Capital Pharmacy offers a variety of services, like free delivery, retail pharmacy and vaccinations. The pharmacy also has a medical equipment showroom where customers can look at equipment in-person before buying.
Capital Pharmacy has recently started to use compliance packaging, which includes a photo of the customer and has pre-counted dosages with times and dates to take the medicine. The packaging kind of looks like a calendar. Taking medicine when directed can save medical costs and keeps patients out of hospital, McIntosh said.
Capital Pharmacy is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
