RXCELLENCE at
Delmarva Pharmacy
More than just husband and wife, the Eisemanns
are a compatible couple who thrive on working
as a team.
Written by: NICK BRANDI
With Shawn Eisemann, one gets the distinct impression that the consummate skill with which he practices his vocation is merely a means to a greater end, for the driven 34-year-old force behind Delmarva Pharmacy is known for working his fingers to the bone so that others in his community might enjoy life just a little more.
The seeds of Eisemann’s outlook were sown a long time ago, back when he and Krista, his wife of nine years, were sweethearts over at Salisbury’s James M. Bennett High School. It was then that Eisemann began to glimpse the whole new life opening up for him, feeling for the first time that maybe he was actually blessed and that he wanted to devote his adult life not only to Krista and the family they would create but to also to improve the human condition in his little corner of the world.
It is in the achievement of this, one could argue, that Eisemann signed up for a baptism by fire. Rather than ensconcing himself in some cozy little backstreet mom-and-pop pharmacy, which he’d have had every right to do, Eisemann decided to make his bones, as well as break in his mortar and pestle, by logging three arduous, often grueling years at a Wal-mart pharmacy. And though the years of that young life were as filled with endless hours of self-sacrifice as the shelves that surrounded it were with headache and ulcer pills, Eisemann does not see them as time wasted.
“Given the structure of the environment, it was certainly a challenge much of the time,” confessed Eisemann, “but the invaluable lesson I learned at Wal-mart was how to keep things personal and more intimate in an environment not conducive to it.”
It was a skill that would serve Shawn and Krista well in the joint careers that would follow, especially when they took the momentous step of opening Delmarva Pharmacy in late 2005. And while Eisemann would be the first to admit to challenges along the way, his professional skill, tireless work ethic, innate sense of self-confidence and desire to keep his business readily accessible to his customers virtually guaranteed the couple’s success.
“There were, of course, some daunting moments during the initial stages,” confessed Eisemann of his dive into the entrepreneurial pool, “but I never really had any serious doubts. I always felt that it would work and that we would make it.”
And so they have — undoubtedly due in no small part to the security and satisfaction that comes from an unusually strong relationship.
“Krista and I have rarely been apart since high school,” Eisemann said.
Brittany Banks and Michelle Briddell
demonstrating the effectiveness of the
Delmarva Pharmacy’s Medicine-On-Time
program. Each safety-sealed pill cup
holds all the pills you need to take and
is labeled with your name, the cup’s
contents and precisely when the dosages
are to be taken. There is a refill reminder
for you and your pharmacist, so
you’ll never run out.
This would appear to be true, considering the couple in their early 30s are expecting their sixth child this month — not to mention that they work together every day at the pharmacy. But where overexposure to one’s spouse would be problematic for many — make that most — Eisemann said neither he nor his wife would have it any other way.
“After 19 years of being together all the time — through all of high school, through all of college, at work every day — her presence is my reality and how I know everything is normal and okay,” shared Eisemann. “It may sound corny, but Krista and I really do believe that together we are capable of much more than just the sum of what we could have achieved individually.”
That synergy came in handy shortly after they opened Delmarva Pharmacy, when the Eisemanns decided to heap even more on their plate by joining up with fellow humanitarian and CEO Joan Robbins of Three Lower Counties Community Services, Inc. A community health center serving Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, TLCCS’ mission is to provide affordable, culturally competent, quality primary and preventive health care services for the entire community.
“What we love about working with Joan,” praised Eisemann, “is that from day one, she, Krista and I were on the same exact page and had the same exact goals when it came to helping the community, as well as the manner in which that should be done.”
As part of their commitment to TLCCS and their own mission as proprietors of Delmarva Pharmacy, the University of Maryland-educated Eisemanns are attending pharmacists to two separate assisted-living facilities in the Salisbury area — a status that carries the additional responsibility of ensuring compliance with an exciting new service known as the Medicine-On-Time program.
“The Medicine-On-Time program,” said Eisemann, “is the latest step in the continuing joint effort of TLCCS and Delmarva Pharmacy to provide global health care of the highest magnitude to all members of the community, regardless if they come to us as walk-ins, clinical referrals or 340B patients.”
Essentially, Medicine-On-Time is a customized, predispensed series of pill cups expertly prepared by a pharmacist so that the margin for error is utterly removed from the patient. Each safety-sealed pill cup holds all the pills you need to take and is labeled with your name, the cup’s contents and precisely when the dosages are to be taken. The individual pill cups are assembled in reusable color-coded calendar cards, which can be formatted to reflect a weekly or monthly medication cycle.
Medicine-On-Time also includes a refill-reminder feature that alerts you — and your pharmacist — well in advance of running out. And should you want a friendly reminder that’s always “on hand,” Medicine-On-Time offers the HealthWatch 100 option, a wristwatch that sounds an alarm and displays a message at each time of dose administration. Best of all, Delmarva Pharmacy and TLCCS are offering the Medicine-On-Time program free of charge to all customers, whether they’re patients or their caregivers.
Sure, it’s true that the meds-on-time program generates no revenue for the Eisemanns, but there are rewards to such an undertaking that money can’t buy.
“I don’t want people to ever think that they can’t afford their medication,” stressed Eisemann. “I think it’s a fundamental right to have access to the medication that can effectively treat one’s symptoms or at least ease one’s suffering. That’s what Krista and I are dedicated to, and that’s what’s gonna happen in this community for as long as we have anything to say about it.”
Delmarva Pharmacy,
1324 Belmont Ave.,
Ste. 101, Salisbury, Md., 410-677-0561,
www.delmarvapharmacy.com, delmarvapharmacy@mac.com.
A partner of Three Lower Counties Community Services, www.tlccs.org.