A pharmacy in Richmond, Virginia, is taking unusual action to promote the benefits of vitamins; giving them away for free. The owner of Springer Pharmacy, Bill Towler, gives a free bottle of vitamins to his customers each month, to help their wellness without asking for anything in return. Towler notes, ‘I’ve been surprised by the response. There’s been a lot of families that feel economically stressed and so the free vitamins were warmly embraced by them.’
One such grateful customer is busy mother Katie Fuzy, who often finds herself at the pharmacy counter to keep her three little ones healthy. However, now she can afford to give her children a daily multivitamin, she has noticed their health improving and hasn’t required other medications as much. ‘My middle child has asthma and it has seemed to help him somewhat,’ she explains. ‘They don’t seem to have as many issues as they’ve had in the past.’ Fuzy adds, ‘It’s a great feeling; to have someone that cares enough.’
Towler began giving out free vitamins last autumn, and already has more than a thousand children – as well as several adults – signed up for the programme, which he says is his way of taking care of the community’s wellbeing. He comments, ‘There seems to be an enormous need in this area. Families that were buying vitamins now don’t have to. So they spend it on something else. The real shocker is that at times they’re not getting any vitamins for their children. It’s the last thing they think about.’
Towler has come to realise that patients, and children in particular, get ill less often when they take frequent vitamins. However, as less sickness means less patients buying medicine, isn’t that a bad business model for a pharmacy? Towler notes that he probably is doing himself out of a business, but he’d rather give his customers good health habits instead of just pills. ‘I felt that if we were ever able to reach the promise of universal healthcare, it starts with the very young,’ he says. ‘It felt like a good fit for us to be promoting that.’
Comments are closed.