On Kensington Avenue, The Medicine Shoppe offers more than quick pick-ups

The Medicine Shoppe sits on the 3000 block of Kensington Avenue, recognizable by its royal blue sign. Co-owners and founders Nafisa and Mitesh Patel serve as CEO and COO of the shop, respectively, which they took over from a former pharmacy in 2016. The Medicine Shoppe remains one of the few remaining places in the community to offer quality hospice partnership and medical care with a staff of 12 pharmacists and 24/7 deliveries. 

The Kensington Medicine Shoppe is part of a national franchise system. The Patels independently own and operate their location. They acquired the space from an existing pharmacy, Amigos Pharmacy, after noticing the lack of quality pharmaceutical care in the area. 

Nafisa had run her own pharmacy in Buck County, PA, which she started completely from scratch. She prided herself on starting from zero and still managing to raise her three young kids

“It all just started with the fact that as a small, independent, minority woman owning a business in Bucks County …it's just very hard,” said Nafisa. 

She was also battling breast cancer at the time, while Mitesh recovered from a severe motorcycle accident concurrently in 2010.

“We were being hit by the big pharmacy chains, and patients typically go there,” she said. “I just always wanted to make a difference in someone's life. So, I would just go every day to the store and work. It took me two years to be able to afford to maintain it.” 

Nafisa became committed to ensuring that people in hospice – an end-of-life service provided in the home or at a facility that includes medications as well as physical, emotional, and spiritual support – got quality care no matter the time of day.

 “Death has no time,” she said, noting that typically, many hospice patients get better doctors and practitioners during regular work hours compared to the grave shift. 

“Who am I to judge like the person who's passing at 2 a.m.? Why do they get a different treatment than people coming during business hours? God doesn’t work during business hours.” 

Thus, the 24/7 delivery service at Medicine Shoppe was born. Deliveries are free to customers, and before the Patels were able to afford a designated delivery driver, Nafisa would deliver each medication herself, occasionally also helping in hospitals and assisting nurses with patients in senior homes. 

“We've hired everyone locally, you know, we're offering deliveries, doing things just to promote that,” said Mitesh. 

Their hospice service works like this; Practitioners in hospice settings relay to the Patels which medications their patients need, and one of four delivery drivers gets the medication over to the house at any hour of the day.

Despite the high prices drug distributors place on independent stores like the Medicine Shoppe, Mitiesh and Nafisa say they strive to provide responsive, high-quality medication therapy management to hospice patients, no matter the hour. 

“We focus on the need, where people are shut in or don't have access to medications in areas that are difficult to deliver to, yet need medications at their end stage of life,” Nafisa said. “That has become our specialty. We're adaptive.” 

For Mitesh, honesty, integrity, open communication and public understanding are vital to keeping a business like theirs sustained. 

Frank Cruz, a patient who has been shopping with the Patels since its inception, affirms all that the Patels strive to do.

“They’re good people,” Cruz said. He highlighted numerous times that their reliability and sheer kindness have kept him a loyal customer. “If I have to come down for my meds, they always get them ready before I come in.” 

Mitesh says that medical referrals and opioid-related services drive revenue and help the store maintain its level of success, yet the general public still prefers to use larger chain pharmacies. 

The hope from here is that continued beautification and other improvements in Kensington will help small businesses thrive and overcome the neighborhood’s negative reputation. 

“I don't think saying if we got rid of a certain population, this neighborhood would be better. I don't think that's going to be true,” said Mitesh.

But he does believe shuttered businesses on Kensington Avenue are making the problem worse. 

“Even if you try and bring in other businesses, they don't want to come in because there are insurance problems, a high rate of crime and other issues that can’t be solved with a broad stroke.” 

Looking forward, Mitesh hopes the pharmacy can partner with the city to create more places where people who use drugs can check themselves in for treatment when they need it. They hope to establish themselves as the beacon of medical care for every patient that comes through their door and ensure each patient knows they are local and willing to help, no matter the time or day. 

 “We're local. We're here. Let us try to work with the city on an issue or with a patient,” Mitesh said. “We also believe in fostering just open communication. We always take feedback and are open to dialogue." 

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