Harry Race Pharmacy and Whites Pharmacy, Sitka, Alaska
Owners: Dirk and Trish White
“Locally Owned, Locally Operated, and Locally Loved” is the proud motto of these two Sitka, Alaska, pharmacies: Harry Race Pharmacy and Whites Pharmacy. Located 1,000 miles from the nearest Good Neighbor Pharmacy®, owners Dirk and Trish White prioritize their lives as community leaders who wear many hats in order to keep Sitka, Alaska viable. As pharmacists, the White’s understand their stores’ roles as key access points for their friends’ and neighbors’ healthcare needs.
To their customers, Harry Race Pharmacy and Whites Pharmacy, located on an island larger than Rhode Island, represent all that is good about a small town. Trish and Dirk are vital to their community; running two independent pharmacies, a durable medical equipment store, a separate gift and card store, and working part-time at Sitka’s hospital pharmacy and lobbying as advocates for independent community pharmacy. Meanwhile, individual attention is given to each and every person who walks into their pharmacies. The Whites’ make sustainability and authentically “living local” a reality.
Knowing their patients and families personalizes the commitment that Dirk and Trish have towards the health and wellbeing of Sitka’s residents. The White’s say a genuine “caring” happens between pharmacists and patients. At the time of service, patients feel they are the only ones in the world who are important.
For more than 30 years Trish and Dirk have been consultant pharmacists at the local Sitka hospital where they are able to follow their patients from hospital stay to their discharge planning. Harry Race and Whites pharmacies are home medical equipment accredited. As an example of what ‘A Best-in-Class’ front-end operation looks like, AmerisourceBergen featured a 5,000-sq.-ft. mock-up of Harry Race Pharmacy, on the ThoughtSpot 2015 show floor.
“The way that we approach our business is the way we approach our customers,” says Trish White, RPh. “Our goal is to provide unparalleled care and service to the community, and ultimately to be a good neighbor. Dirk and I are proud that we’ve been preceptors for five pharmacy schools for 25 years. Our goal is to ignite in our pharmacy students independent passion for community pharmacy ownership and operation.”
“Our pharmacy students receive a varied and challenging opportunity with lots of exposure to pharmacy in a rural setting,” notes Trish. “Experiences include MTM, cardiac rehabilitation, health education, and locavore compounding, like red bug gel or antiviral red algae cream in the ice cream department.”
Trish and Dirk believe in paying-it forward so each month Harry Race’s Soda fountain donates their tips to a local cause. April tips will be donated to Sitka Cancer Survivors Society Inc. who’s mission is to honor, educate, comfort and inspire Sitkan’s dealing with cancer. April’s soda special, the Hope Float is a delicious creamy mix of raspberry and pomegranate, topped with vanilla ice cream, fluffy mounds of fresh whipped cream and a cherry on top!
Beyond running their day-to-day businesses, the White’s are proactive pharmacy advocates. As a Good Neighbor Pharmacy®, National Advisor, Trish participates in decision-making that affects the future of independent pharmacies. Dirk is co-chair of the Alaska Pharmaceutical Association Legislative Committee, and serves on numerous legislative committees with NCPA. He is a WSPC regional leader, and for the past 20 years, Dirk has flown stateside to advocate at state and federal legislative meetings. The White’s have two children, son Soren who attends Oregon State University, and daughter Taylor who is a student at UC Santa Cruz.
The attention and authenticity of Harry Race and White’s pharmacies’ patient interactions enhance customer health, with patients coming through the doors. The phrase, “Locally owned, locally operated, locally loved” is alive in Sitka.
