Support our local pharmacy

Thank you for the very insightful and illuminating article in the Sept. 5, 2024 Pathfinder regarding the challenges our local pharmacist, Karen Dove, and the Seeley Swan Pharmacy face from both outside sources and local considerations.

For starters we should all recognize how lucky our small community is to have its own full service pharmacy. As the article points out, Dove’s facility is the only pharmacy serving all the areas between Big Fork, Lincoln and Missoula. It should also be noted that small independent pharmacies such as ours are unfortunately forced to operate under fairly draconian policies and the cost dictates of large mega outside managers. As such small rural pharmacies such as ours are at a terrible disadvantage when paired against much larger corporate chain pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS, etc.

We need to support our local pharmacy for a number of reasons, the least of which is that if we lose the Seeley Swan Pharmacy, as we are losing our saw mill, it will have a major impact on the quality of health care within our community. Consider if you will the inconvenience and worry about needing to fill a prescription on a weekend or from a phoned-in referral from one’s primary care provider in Missoula after hours. Think about how you would get a refill for a life-dependent medication after hours. Think about the difficulty of even getting medications prescribed by the local health care center here in Seeley Lake after a snowmobile accident or because of an infection with no local pharmacy to fill it.

The point I’m trying to make is that because of our rural isolation we need our local pharmacy. The risk of losing our local pharmacy like so many other rural communities across Montana and the nation have experienced is a distinct possibility if we don’t proactively act to support it. How do we do that? One simple way is to tell your primary care physician, dentist or other health care provider who you may see in Missoula that your preferred pharmacy of choice is the Seeley Swan Pharmacy in Seeley Lake [(406) 677-8989]. Where ordinarily an out-of-town provider might just call up a local Missoula pharmacy or big box store, it is no skin off their back for you to direct them to call our pharmacy here in Seeley Lake. Remember it is your choice, not theirs.

Having your prescriptions filled at our pharmacy has many benefits. Our pharmacist will know what other medications you are taking and be able to adjust and explain any potential adverse drug interactions. Similarly our pharmacist can also get your difficult-to-obtain medications quickly, thus helping to reduce unnecessary trips to Missoula for refills.

I suggest everyone look at the big picture here and remember how critical our Seeley Swan Pharmacy is. As the Pathfinder article implies, we are very lucky to have our own local pharmacy, its owner, Dove, and her staff. Let’s try to find ways to support them 110%.