No. 1 at the counter

Kalispell pharmacist named Montana's best

Lately, Tobey Schule can't even sip a cup of coffee in peace.

Schule, a pharmacist at Sykes' Pharmacy in Kalispell, was sitting in the store's cafe earlier this week when a man came up and clapped him on the back.

"Is that Tobey?" the man asked, loud enough to be heard over the din in the restaurant. "Tobey, the pharmacist of the year?"

The man turned to the cafe patrons and demanded a round of applause for Schule, which was eagerly granted.

Schule smiled.

"They love to embarrass me here," he said.

Most of the people who frequent Sykes' know Schule. He's been behind the counter in the pharmacy for the last 10 years and has a reputation for dedication with his patients.

Now, that reputation is spreading across Montana.

Last week, Schule was named Pharmacist of the Year by the Montana Pharmacy Association. He was presented a plaque at the Northwest Pharmacy Convention in Coeur d'Alene last Saturday.

"It's a very big honor to be recognized by the association," he said.

Schule was selected from a handful of nominees the association received. His nomination was unusual, however, because it came from someone outside the pharmacy industry.

A Kalispell physician wrote the association a letter recommending Schule for the award.

"The physician was just describing what an excellent job Tobey does in the community," said Jim Smith, the association's executive director. "I guess that was our first heads up about Tobey, you might say."

They were impressed with the various types of work Schule does in the valley. He has worked with Touch of Grace since its inception. Touch of Grace is a free clinic where doctors, nurses and pharmacists volunteer their time to provide medical care for those who can't afford it. The program's primary target is working people whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid, but who don't make enough to afford health care, Schule said.

Schule also works with mental health patients through a program sponsored by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The program is designed to help patients pay for medication if they can't afford it on their own. He also works directly with local doctors on patient care.

"A lot of the time, mental health patients aren't accepted in a community," he said. "They're a segment of the population that I feel has been neglected. There's special needs in that group as well, and I'm not sure they're always addressed. So we've taken a more proactive approach."

Schule is even more concerned for the elderly, which comprise the bulk of his patients - probably because there are five senior apartment buildings within three blocks of Sykes'.

"The elderly require a little extra help with their medications," he said. "I've always felt that they were a neglected part of the profession. We've always tried to reach out to them."

Recently, reaching out has meant learning the ins and outs of Medicare Part D, the controversial prescription drug benefit plan that took effect at the beginning of the year.

When Schule began helping his elderly patients with the program, he ran into a host of problems.

"It's not really set up very well," he said. "Patient care was not put into this, and that's my biggest thing right now, is to get the patient care more than dollars and cents."

Schule began working with Sen. Max Baucus' staff, looking for solutions to the problems with Part D. Then, in February, Baucus and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Schule to testify before the Senate Finance Committee.

They contacted him a week before the Feb. 8 hearing, wanting an independent pharmacist to testify on behalf of the patients affected by Part D.

"I fought it," Schule said. "They started calling me on Wednesday, and I didn't agree until Friday."

It was compassion for his patients that finally convinced him to testify.

"I thought, well, maybe it would do some good," he said. "I thought that we could do some good for the elderly and get a little better program for them than what was originally set up."

In Washington, D.C., Schule told the finance committee his frustrations and how his patients had struggled to understand Part D and to figure out which coverage option would be best out of the 40 offered in Montana. Informational meetings about the program only added to the confusion, he said, and education for pharmacists wasn't much better.

Schule is also concerned that some of his patients were forced to change medications to drugs approved by their new plans. Some didn't respond well, he said, which resulted in more care (and more money) to treat their conditions. He has found this to be especially true for his mental health patients.

On July 5, Schule will return to Washington to meet with Baucus and his staff. Although he has seen some positive changes since his appearance before the finance committee, Schule says there is still room for improvement.

"When they get the bugs worked out, it'll be a good thing for them," he said.

Schule's visible role in getting those bugs worked out was part of the reason the Montana Pharmacy Association chose him as Pharmacist of the Year. But pharmacists across the country have worked hard to get Medicare Part D off the ground, he said.

"If it hadn't been for the pharmacists on this, the program would have fallen," he said. "When I look at the work pharmacists have done in the state, it was surprising to be chosen for this. It's humbling."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.