Health & Healing – September 2007
Pharmaca:
Offering Complimentary Medicine in Irvine
by Nicole Pugh
Remember those old fashioned pharmacies from long ago? Maybe you had one in your hometown — a place to not only have a prescription filled but also get some common-sense advice from a knowledgeable professional, a place to even pick up a few necessary sundries before heading home. In this age of HMO’s and chain stores, a big city drug store with a small town feel could be relegated to the halls of history. That is, if it weren’t for Pharmaca, a unique pharmacy chain that has brought complimentary medicine to the University Center in Irvine, California.
“Our customers in the Los Angeles area have responded enthusiastically to our preventative approach to health care,” said Pharmaca CEO Barry Perzow in a press release about the opening last June. “We are looking forward to introducing the Orange County community to the benefits of traditional and natural medicine in one location, and to the unique expertise of our knowledgeable and licensed staff for all of their health care needs.”
Pharmaca also has a store in Pacific Palisades north of Santa Monica. Plans to open a La Jolla store in San Diego County are underway as well.
According to the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, “36 percent of American adults aged 18 years and over use some form of complementary and alternative medicine.” Despite this growing interest, the problems associated with incorporating more preventative health measures into one’s already existing traditional health care routine remain. Even in urban environments, individuals must still employ a “hunter/gatherer” strategy when it comes to satisfying their health care needs in a conscious way: filling traditional prescriptions in one place, buying vitamins in another and culling through pages of often-contradictory health information on the Internet at home. Pharmaca, founded in June 2000, is proving to be part of the answer in streamlining the process of health empowerment for thousands of Americans. According to the Pharmaca website, it is “the first integrative pharmacy in the U.S.”
The concept is simple, yet revolutionary. It has to do with what Dr. Kaity Collins, Irvine’s Pharmaca Lead Practitioner and Naturopathic Doctor, calls “a healthy marriage and respect for both traditional and alternative medicine.”
At the Pharmaca store in Irvine, this marriage is evident from the moment you walk in the door. A conscientious eye towards chemical sensitivity is evident in the non-toxic materials used to paint the walls and the bamboo shelving used to display the products. These shelves along the walls and to the left-hand side of the store are filled with vitamins and minerals, complete lines of chemical and cruelty-free makeup, organic shampoos, conditioners, baby products, lotions, aroma therapies, bath products, natural detergents, soaps and home decors. In the middle of the 4,800 square foot space are rows that hold more traditional products. Along a large window that looks out into the busy shopping center, a lounge area offers a place to rest, have a cup of complimentary tea or nibble on an organic snack. The back area houses the pharmacy, where pharmacy manager Anne Bowlus, Pharm. D., and her staff fill traditional prescriptions as well as do general, veterinarian and pediatric compounding. The Irvine store has a total of 20 certified staff members, including estheticians, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, a licensed acupuncturist, and a naturopathic doctor. The Irvine store also has a full-service pharmacy center that accepts most prescription insurance plans.
Pharmaca pharmacy staff members provide customer consultations as well. In addition to information regarding the more common drug side affects, Pharmaca consultations also include a discussion about drug/herb interactions as well as drug nutrient depletion.
“For example,” explains Dr. Collins, “with the stantin drugs (mostly used to lower cholesterol), they always say that they deplete your CQ10. Our pharmacy will give you a handout saying that because you are taking this particular drug, it is depleting these nutrients in your body that are naturally occurring, and you should supplement that.”
As an additional resource, customers can use an in-store computer database called Health Notes (Wellness Advisor on the website) to look up information on anything from tension headaches to high blood pressure. The database will provide a description of the condition as well as traditional and alternative recommendations related to it.
Collins admits that the new pharmacy’s close proximity to UC Irvine (directly across the street) provides an interesting mix of individuals who visit the store. Not all of them are students however.
“[We] do get a lot of students and professors but there is also Turtle Rock and Turtle Ridge, and they bring in a lot of people,” she says. “I am surprised about the mixed demographic.”
Also surprising is the fact that, according to Collins, the majority of people who visit the store seem to be young moms.
“They are getting everything: oral health, eco-home products, prenatal supplies and natural baby products,” says Collins. “I am glad they are interested in herbs and homeopathics instead of going to amoxycylin immediately.”
No doubt, those moms and others who visit Pharmaca are glad as well. Now they have a place to go to learn more about their health.
Pharmaca’s new Irvine store is located at 4139 Campus Dr. in Irvine. Pharmaca currently operates 13 pharmacies in Colorado, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
The new Pharmaca store in Irvine is located at 4139 Campus Dr. in the University Center, 92612. Visit www.pharmaca.com for more information. Nicole Pugh is Editor-At-Large for Vision magazine.