JAY — Spruce Mountain Pharmacy celebrated 15 years of business on Saturday, June 1, with food, music, and the unique opportunity for staff to climb Jay Fire Rescue’s ladder truck which had the ladder extended to about 95 feet.Owner Steve Maki was the first to dare the climb. Before taking to the ladder he said he planned to do it soon before losing his nerve.

Firefighters Carl Beaudette and Brian Harbaugh assisted Maki with his safety gear, then Harbaugh followed Maki up the ladder while Beaudette and pharmacy technician Steve Eng watched. Maki stopped several times on his upward climb to look down or speak with Harbaugh.

Once Maki was off the ladder it was Eng’s turn. Meanwhile, Belmont Radio’s Matt Gilbert and Mark Poission performed music under a tent. People from the surrounding area sat in rows of chairs they had brought with them. Others stood while listening and socializing with family and friends.

Bruce Adams of Jay manned the grill where he cooked hamburgers and hot dogs before taking a break to help serve attendees. “It’s something I do just for fun,” he said.

On Friday, May 31, Maki spoke with the Livermore Falls Advertiser about his career journey and how pharmaceutical care has changed. Maki became a pharmacist in 1996, opened Spruce Mountain Pharmacy at 3 Tweedie Road in April 2009, then moved to 148 Main St. in December 2019 when he needed more space.

One reason more space was needed was because of increased demand for prescription compounding [making medication specific to patient needs] for human and pet customers. “Compounding has certainly grown since then, it is kind of split down the middle,” Maki said. “The veterinarians in our area are appreciative of us being able to make the medication. Compounding has grown because it had not been something that patients were used to in this area.”

Maki has been able to educate his providers on the values of compounding medication. “We have definitely seen an uptick in our doctors sending in prescriptions for medications customized for patients’ needs,” he noted.

When Maki moved to his current location his staff included two other pharmacists, three pharmacy technicians and an intern. An additional technician is now part of his staff. He is president of the Maine Pharmacy Association.

In an article published in The Franklin Journal in August of 2019, Maki spoke of two challenges facing independent pharmacies: PBMs [prescription benefit managers] and direct and indirect remuneration [DIRs]. PBMs are incentivized to give preferred pricing to their corporate parents and leave independent pharmacies out of the process, according to the article. PBMs were applying the DIRs to commercial health insurance policies as a way to retroactively collect fees, which are often arbitrary and with different labels from dispensing pharmacies, it noted.

Those challenges have gotten worse, Maki said. “There hasn’t been any legislative action to kind of reel in the PBMs. That is what we are expecting and that is the legislation that we desperately need to get passed to be able to help give independent pharmacies the ability to continue to serve the communities we are in,” he stated.

Maki was part of a November 2022 Sun Journal article that reported on the increasing workload of pharmacists due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of staff.  He was featured in another article last October about a lack of pharmacists in Maine.

“The shortage is being generated mostly with the national chains or the big box stores,” Maki said. “There are a lot of issues with work environments, pace of work, work load and over workload, stress and burnout. In an independent pharmacy we have the ability to be more flexible with what we schedule and what we do, really have a better work/life balance. That is what we strive to do here at Spruce Mountain Pharmacy.”

Technology is the biggest change Maki has seen since he first became a pharmacist. “Just the amount of technology being utilized in pharmacies has grown by leaps and bounds,” he noted. “Thinking back on when we opened 15 years ago, we were still manually counting our pills, manually counting inventory. Doing a lot in the past that technology has stepped into that has allowed us more flexibility for time with patients, more time to be innovative in the level of services we provide our customers.”

Maki said the age of his customers is a mix. The largest population in Maine that uses prescription medication is the 50 and older demographic, he noted. “There are a lot of patients in that field that we take care of, but we cover the whole gamut of young and old,” he stated. “Little kids still get ear infections, eye infections. We see a lot of that 50-plus population.”

There is definitely more of a demand on prescription medication and pharmaceutical care, a big demographic looking for his services, Maki said. “That does not seem to be shrinking or going away any time soon,” he noted.

When asked what his biggest satisfaction is as a pharmacist, Maki replied, “I think when you have that one-on-one interaction with a patient, the patient comes back time and time again. You didn’t think there was anything significant, out of the ordinary, you were just providing good pharmaceutical care. Years down the road the patient comes back and says, “Thank you so much, that was extraordinary.” They thought it was an amazing service that you offered.”

Spruce Mountain Pharmacy will continue its mission to give pharmaceutical care at the highest levels that it can, take care of the community and be a trusted health partner and resource to the community, Maki stated.

“We are super excited to be celebrating our 15 years here in the community, serving the tri-town area,” he added.

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