I am NCPA

PHARMACY: Pharmacist at the Hometown Pharmacy, her family's business, with 12 locations across Ohio and Pennsylvania. It employs 190 people.

EDUCATION: Graduated from the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy in Pittsburgh, where she was extremely involved in the professional pharmacy fraternity Lambda Kappa Sigma.

A FAMILY TRADITION: Stephanie grew up in Poland, Ohio, a town halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Her mother Wanda Mrozek—from Poland the country, not the town, and also a Duquesne graduate—opened the pharmacy's first location in New Castle, Pa., in 1999.

"I began working as a pharmacy technician when I was in high school, and really enjoyed interacting with the patients and learning about medications. I have had some wonderful mentors who understood independent community pharmacy and helped me to get an appreciation for the delicate balance between patient care and business," she says. "When I was in my first two years of pharmacy school, I was in charge of payroll and paying the bills for four of our stores. I managed to do this on the weekends and during breaks. I still continued to work as a technician/intern throughout college.

"Stephanie was tasked with managing a pharmacy for the first time when her family purchased a new location focusing on both traditional retail and assisted living resident patients in 2013.

A NONTRADITIONAL APPROACH: Stephanie says her family's pharmacies found it hard to survive just on filling prescriptions, so they took another approach. "All our community locations are combo-shops. We do our best to put a non-traditional pharmacy service in each of our community locations, including assisted living facilities, mental health and addiction services, hospice, adherence packaging, home delivery and vaccinations," she says. "We also have one ‘ultimate combo shop' that services a skilled nursing facility in addition to assisted living and traditional retail patients."

PART OF THE COMMUNITY: In addition to working at her locations, Stephanie is involved with United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. She's a report card mentor for middle school students, delivers groceries monthly to people who can't go themselves, and helps with golf outings to raise money for the United Way.

That relationship also extends to the company, which works with the United Way, including at events to pack supplies for local students. They also support organizations in the communities around their locations, including senior fairs, youth and college sports teams and a "Healthy Kids Vitamin Program" for elementary school students—all of which have been well-received by community members, Stephanie says

A SURPRISING OPPORTUNITY: While Stephanie interviewed with several chain pharmacies, she decided to work for her parents at the new Monongahela, Pa., location, despite their view that she was better served working elsewhere.

"Looking back, I feel like this was such a pivotal moment for us as a company. This location was servicing many local assisted living facilities and using adherence packaging. At this point, we had not offered adherence packaging at any of our stores nor did we consider serving assisted living patients from a retail location," she says.

Stephanie also says, "There was a lot of hard work and some tears that went into bringing this location into the ‘Hometown Pharmacy Family,' and it really made us broaden our thinking as to the type of patients we serviced in community pharmacy."

NCPA'S ADVOCACY: Stephanie says NCPA has provided her with a large group of like-minded pharmacist owners who all share the common goal of improving patient care while also running a successful business.

"Through NCPA's tireless advocacy and support for our profession, I am optimistic that the future of independent community pharmacy is bright!"