I just returned home this week after spending a few days with my family, celebrating my dad’s 95th birthday along with the birth of my newest great nephew just a few days earlier. It was amazing to watch my dad holding Brodie and realize that there is nearly 100 years between their birthdays. So much has happened in the interim between their births!
My Dad and I had both spent most of our careers with the same two companies. When I was growing up, he worked for Albertsons in the meat department and then went to work for Associated Food Stores when they built the warehouse in Boise. I started out at an independent neighborhood pharmacy during high school and college and then worked for Albertsons in the early 1980s as a pharmacist. At that time, we typed prescription labels on a typewriter (yes, it was electric) and hand counted our receipts at night to get the script count for the day.
In 1988 we transitioned to our first pharmacy computer system! We struggled at first but what an incredible game changer that turned out to be. In 1990 the Obra 90 counseling law went into effect and not long after that; the HIPAA Privacy Act was also enacted and changed the rules once again.
In 2005, pharmacy began transforming to a more clinical role by offering immunization services and then over the last few years expanding those into clinical services as well. Our patients have genuinely appreciated the convenience of these services as well as the special care they receive in our pharmacies. With much support from AFS and ARO, we have also had the pleasure of building a Help Desk, an Internal Call Center and most recently a drug warehouse. It would have been much more difficult getting through the pandemic if we had not had our call center and help desk there to assist. 
Today, several of our pharmacies safely fill 3,000-plus prescriptions each week with the assistance of new automation (pharmacy robots). Our ARO pharmacies filled 1.9 million prescriptions in 2023 and they continue to grow both scripts and services.
For me, the most important thing has always been having the right team to accomplish those goals you seek. Reaching our goals would not be possible without having incredibly talented people on our teams. As we know, it all begins in the stores; and we have exceptional teams working each day in our pharmacies. They have taken each change in stride and continued to offer our patients the best personal care in the market.
Our pharmacy team at the corporate office is the absolute best there is! It is my pleasure to come to work each day and work alongside this incredible team!
As I look back on all the programs that have been put in place and the progress that has been achieved over the years; I am so proud and thankful for our pharmacy team and all the other teams that have done the work with us.
As I celebrated my father’s landmark birthday, I reminisced about the substantial influence he’s had throughout my life. Our pharmacy team, the other members of the AFS and ARO teams and, of course, our member retailers have also played a significant role in my life. I am fortunate to have had not one but two wonderful families: one at home and the other at “One Associated.”