Flathead pharmacists earn state awards

Last week two Flathead Valley pharmacists received recognition for their contributions to their community, inside and outside of their respective pharmacies.

Becky Stillo of Alpine Apothecary in Whitefish was named the Montana Pharmacy Association’s Fitzgerald Pharmacist of the Year. Stillo said she has always seen the award go to someone who is able to leave a larger footprint on the health-care community.

“It’s an active promotion of what real Montana pharmacy is,” Stillo said. “Someone who’s an advocate for what the pharmacist relationship should be.”

Stillo and her husband, Josh, acquired the independent pharmacy during the summer of 2014. She works with five others at Alpine Apothecary, which offers compounded medications. The method allows Stillo and her staff to build specialized medications for their patients after working with the prescriber and the patient to reach the right dosage. Alpine also offers a variety of essential oils to patients, giving them as many options as possible.

She hopes to offer more education and accessibility to patients throughout the Flathead Valley. For the last 10 years she’s been the pharmacy coordinator at Shepherd’s Hand Clinic, a Whitefish clinic that offers free medication prescriptions to patients in need. It all wraps into Stillo’s belief of what a pharmacy should be to a community.

“Our towns are strong because of the community base,” she said. “We should be a community that cures, that’s what Shepherd’s Hand does.”

Stillo, a Eureka native, said she’s committed to the community’s access to health care. She graduated from the University of Montana in 2001 and eventually took a job at Haines Drug in Whitefish. When the longtime pharmacy closed in 2009, Stillo accepted a job at Alpine Apothecary inside Super 1 Foods in Whitefish. Before long, the opportunity came to take over the business and begin implementing her own plan for the patient community.

“It’s about forging those relationships, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of people here,” Stillo said. “It’s about being there every day. People have to be able to trust you.”

Stillo said it has taken some time for the award-winning pharmacist’s location to grow into the community, but thanks to a staff of longstanding Whitefish residents and open-minded pharmacists, she’s been able to accomplish what she set out to do — not winning an award, but winning the community’s confidence.

“Running a small pharmacy is no small task. The people here have gone above and beyond. They’re what has gotten us through,” she said.

This year, Stillo plans to offer “brown bag sessions” where patients can come in with their prescriptions and Stillo and the staff may be able to offer them a compound medication option or something cheaper, but still effective.

Down the road in Kalispell, Tobey Schule, a registered pharmacist at Sykes’ Pharmacy, has a new trophy of his own.

Schule was given the Montana Pharmacy Association’s Bowl of Hygeia award that recognizes mentorship and contributions to the health-care community.

“It’s a great honor and very humbling to have your peers do that,” Schule said. “I don’t do it for the recognition or the award. I do it because I care about people. You have to do what’s in your heart.”

Schule has worked at Sykes’ Pharmacy since he first came to Kalispell by way of Great Falls in 1979. He’s been a voice for senior and children’s access to health care, giving presentations to legislators at the state and federal level.

Schule played a big role in establishing the Montana Prescription Drug Registry, which was headed by Starla Blank. It was a six-year effort, going through three state legislative sessions before finally being signed into law. The program stops people from abusing drugs by collecting data on controlled drugs dispensed to Montana residents.

In 2006, former U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., invited him to speak before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on the needs of the pharmaceutical community in Montana.

“When you think of the Bowl of Hygeia, you’d think of guys who got it before and think of them as your past mentors. I’m having a hard time realizing I’ve become the mentor,” Schule said.

Now, Schule said he’s able to look at the plaque, which features a serpent wrapping itself around a bowl, and in the reflection see the different accomplishments obtained through his career.

Many things have changed since he began down that path 39 years ago.

“It doesn’t feel like I’ve been at it for 39 years,” he said. “Back then we were doing things with powder paper. Now we’ve got robots doing everything.”

Schule credits his wife, Cynthia, and staff for complementing the work he’s done in his career. He said he’s not ready to retire anytime soon — he still enjoys coming into work every day. He has cut back his hours, though, allowing his son and younger pharmacists to pick up the work while he spends more time with his grandchildren.

“I’m in a different era of my life,” he said. “I’ll continue to fight for patients. As issues come up I’m sure I’ll be involved.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.