Good Morning Gloucester

If you haven’t been to Conley’s Drug Store yet for your medicinal needs, you should give them a shot.  I have been there several times, and they have really earned a shout-out!  The service has always been friendly and helpful.  The staff have helped me find what I needed, made helpful suggestions, and ordered things I needed that they didn’t have in stock.  They have been willing to go the extra mile.  For instance, recently I was trying to get a prescription filled, and there were some complications due to requirements of the insurance company, my doctor being on vacation, etc.  They took care of figuring the situation out, making God knows how many phone calls to the insurance company, the doctor’s office, the doctor filling in for my doctor during his vacation, and to me, finally getting the prescription filled.  They were courteous and helpful every step of the way.

Conley’s is an independent, family-owned pharmacy that started in Ipswich in 1880, and opened their store in Gloucester (next to the Shaws on Railroad Avenue) in 2010. Initially, their Gloucester store was strictly a drug store without the other products offered at places like CVS. Earlier this year, they expanded their store (apparently more than doubling it’s size) and now the have a wider range of offerings beyond strictly healthcare products.

 

I had a nice conversation with pharmacist Alex Doyle, whose family owns both the Ipswich and Gloucester stores.  He also emphasized their desire to really get to know their clients and contribute to the community.  He mentioned that the Gloucester location now offers a program to give a free bottle of vitamins each month for children (parents can sign their kids up in the store).  They have other community service projects in the works too.

Another interesting service they offer is for people with multiple monthly prescriptions. Instead of giving you a bunch of bottles, they can sort them out for you, pre-packaged for your daily doses (i.e. a container with your morning pills for Monday, another for your pills on Tuesday, etc.).  That sounds like a real time-saver for the client, and especially helpful for senior citizens who might have more difficulty getting all that organized.  According to their pamphlet, they do “compounding”, so they can tailor some products to your specific needs – special medicine for pets, alternate dosage forms for people who can’t swallow pills, make allergen-free formulations (dye, gluten, etc.), and more. I just found out from their website that they also offer homeopathic medicine.

To conclude, I’m glad to have them right around the corner from the rectory!

– Fr. Matthew Green

P.S. Is it just my sci-fi obsessed mind, or does one of their pharmacy technicians (Daniel) look like a young Obi-Wan Kenobi, as portrayed by Ewan McGregor? His hair isn’t quite long enough, but besides that…