Editor’s note: This story is part of a five-part community pharmacy series covering College of Pharmacy alumni who operate independent pharmacies in rural or underserved communities across Tennessee.
In the heart of Cross Plains, Tennessee, Thomas Drugs has always been the center of the community. Established as a general store in 1915, the location’s importance to the community is exemplified by the original Cross Plains 50-foot-deep watering well on which the original store was built.
The building became a medical facility in 1930s, when James Thomas, MD, bought the building to use as his doctor’s office. His son, Burgess Thomas, later became the location’s first pharmacist. In the 1970s, Dan Green, PharmD, a 1974 graduate of UT Health Science Center’s College of Pharmacy, and his wife Debbie Green, a registered nurse, took over the pharmacy and ran it for almost 50 years.
Jeremy Felker, PharmD, and Sarah Felker, PharmD, both graduates of the College of Pharmacy, purchased Thomas Drugs in 2022, intending to continue the tradition established by the Greens of serving the community. “Dan and Debbie were instrumental to our community, serving the community faithfully,” Dr. Jeremy Felker says. “We are now the third stewards of this wonderful venture, with already an amazing legacy built before us. We figured with all the historical charm and sincere authenticity, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993, and its historical atmosphere is prevalent throughout. The original checkered floors include a well-worn spot from years of waiting customers. An old-fashioned soda fountain still serves sodas and award-winning ice cream and milkshakes to sweet-toothed customers, as it has for nearly 100 years. A small restaurant started by Debbie Green also remains, providing comfort food to patients and tourists who visit the historic building to see a real old-fashioned soda fountain still in operation.
Drs. Jeremy and Sarah Felker met while studying in the College of Pharmacy. They were engaged on the banks of the Mississippi River during their fourth year and graduated in 2009. Their time at UT Health Science Center brought them together and prepared them for the challenges and successes of running a community pharmacy, teaching them the importance of personal patient care alongside lessons in clinical pharmacy.
“The UT Health Science Center College of Pharmacy does such a great job reinforcing the importance of providing that extra patient care,” Dr. Sarah Felker says “They prepared us for a lifetime of continuous learning.” Her husband adds, “It’s one of the best clinical pharmacy programs on the face of the planet.”
He is originally from nearby Mount Juliet, and she is from Decaturville but has relatives near Cross Plains. Having ties to the area made moving to Cross Plains a natural next step. Before purchasing Thomas Drugs, he found a role as a clinical pharmacist after his residency at Northcrest Hospital in Robertson County, a position he still holds. She worked as a pharmacy manager at Walgreens for over 13 years.
Building relationships with their patients to understand their needs better is an essential focus for the Felkers, who believe it leads to better and more focused care. “I wanted to spend more time with patients, answer their questions, and truly engage with the community,” she says. At Thomas Drugs, she can cultivate that passion. The independence allows her to spend more time with patients and connect with them on a personal level to better meet their needs. She can also negotiate lower prescription costs with suppliers to reduce drug prices and help patients on Medicare or who are low-income and struggle to afford medications. “I’ve always had a passion for people.”
Thomas Drugs is working to improve medical care and access to the community by revolutionizing pharmacy practice. “Independent pharmacists can play a huge role in transitions of care and provide better and higher quality information to the patients as to exactly what’s going on with their care plan,” he says.
The pharmacy has partnered with a local physician, Theresa Williams, MD, through a collaborative practice agreement. This allows Thomas Drugs to provide minor medical care, such as blood pressure screenings, care for minor ailments, education, point-of-care testing, and vaccines. Based on this collaborative agreement, pharmacists can then prescribe medication for various minor ailments. This relationship increases access to care in the community and saves patients valuable time traveling and waiting in line in larger health care facilities. It also frees up local physicians’ offices and hospitals for more serious medical issues, filling in a critical health care gap. “There’s so much that we as pharmacists can be doing to support our patients, physicians, local providers, and nurse practitioners,” Dr. Jeremy Felker says.
In the future, the Felkers will continue focusing on personal patient-centered care as they expand their health care capacity through growing partnerships with Dr. Williams and others.
“Thomas Drugs is already historically original; our job is to keep the history alive,” Dr. Jeremy Felker says. “We want our patients to have a place where they not only fill prescriptions but also feel important. We are committed to preserving Thomas Drugs’ history of serving the community with a servant’s heart.”
The Felkers are dedicated stewards of Thomas Drugs, continuing to deliver quality, accessible, and personal health care to the Cross Plains community as the location has for 100 years – along with outstanding ice cream.
This story was originally featured in the Fall 2024 issue of the College of Pharmacy Magazine. If you have a story to tell about making a difference in your community or would like to highlight your community pharmacy, contact Nathan Ball, communications and marketing manager for the College of Pharmacy, at nball2@uthsc.edu.