A Penn Hills couple credits God for opening a pharmacy that has helped dozens of patients afford their medications.

As the pandemic impacts adults becoming uninsured after losing their jobs, resulting in being unable to afford their medications, Shannon and Sean Parsons worked to fix a similar problem more than a decade ago.

In 2006, a customer approached Shannon Parsons, who was working at a pharmacy at the time, to pay her usual $200 for medications, but this time the cost was $800.

“She said, ‘I can’t afford this’ and walked out,” Shannon Parsons said. “I told my husband we should do something about that.”

It took 10 years for the couple to make their non-profit, Lost and Found Pharmacy, a reality in 2016. Because it was a nonprofit pharmacy, the couple couldn’t get a bank loan. Through grants, fundraising events and using their savings, the couple pulled together the quarter-million dollars they needed to get the pharmacy running.

“It is a rarity to have a freestanding non-profit pharmacy. Things have changed throughout the time of covid,” Sean Parsons said.

Funds are generated through profit made at the pharmacy, events, donations and fundraisers. The proceeds are placed in a patient fund to help patients afford their medications. Sean Parsons said that 28% of their patients are uninsured, and 72% are insured.

“People without insurance don’t get their medications filled usually because they don’t need them or can’t afford them. Eight percent would be a huge number for a chain,” Sean Parsons said.

The pharmacy offers a variety of programs to help patients pay for their medications at an affordable cost, including a patient assistance program, compliance packaging and lowering prescription medication costs.

Sean Parsons described the pharmacy’s practices as the favorite cousin in the family. They are not allowed to change a person’s copay if they are not on Medicaid, but they can use separate funds to help meet patients in the middle with costs.

“Our pockets aren’t infinitely deep, but what we can do is we can write a check from this other account to cover the costs of someone whose meds cost up to $100,” he said.

Through the essential pharmacy program, regardless of a patient’s income and insurance status, the pharmacy completely covers the costs of medications listed in the program. Another way to cover costs is by offering the pharmacy’s retail cost instead of the patient’s copay, Shannon Parsons said.

Shannon Parsons had worked at a vintage soda fountain pharmacy as a teen and wanted to add a touch of nostalgia to the space, so a vintage soda fountain is available for customers. The job inspired her to pursue a doctor of pharmacy degree.

Customers can buy food, milkshakes, soda or ice cream. The fountain dates back to 1924, when its home was the Charlotte Hotel in North Carolina, where various famous people — Babe Ruth, Elvis Presley, Jack Dempsey, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, to name a few — stayed.

“Part of our goal, in the beginning, wasn’t to just help people afford their medications. It really was about building relationships. You can’t build relationships with having people coming up and down the aisle,” Sean Parsons said.

The pandemic became a pivotal time for the pharmacy. Most pharmacies shrunk in the prescription business because patients were not seeing their doctors or had their medications mailed to them, Sean Parsons said.

“We had the opposite problem because we were already doing free delivery,” he said.

Shannon Parsons said the pharmacy grows by 20% every year, and the pandemic helped jump that percentage to 60%. She credits the staff of 15 employees and tons of volunteers for their fantastic work in keeping the pharmacy going.

“A lot of people lost their healthcare and people were asking around about where to get affordable medication,” she said.

The community-first attitude of the pharmacy has earned it a reputation of being a hub for residents to do more than just pick up their prescriptions. The pharmacy has held movie nights, Bible studies, board games and live music events.

“I think what makes us stand out is the relationships we build here. We try to go ahead and try to be part of the community,” Sean Parsons said.

Penn Hills resident Frank Kologie has become a regular customer, picking up his medications and hanging out.

“It is so friendly. I have met so many people here, and I have even seen people I taught come here,” he said.

The couple is happy to see how much the community has utilized the pharmacy and hopes to bring back more events soon.

“A lot of people have referred to us as cheers without the alcohol. You come in and everyone knows your name,” Shannon Parsons said.

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