The Pharmacy at the Park City Clinic may be new to the area, but owner Kourt Stirland knows the business inside and out. That’s mainly because Stirland has owned a community pharmacy for more than 20 years in Hurricane.
Stirland passed the family legacy, a career in pharmaceutical work, down to his daughters
when he opened his first location in Park City.
“I get a lot of help from my kids,” Stirland said. “We all like challenges and this has been a wonderful challenge.”
Katy Ramsay graduated from the University of Utah a few years ago and has spent the past several months helping her father open two pharmacies in town. The first, The Pharmacy at the Park City Clinic on Round Valley Drive, opened in August. The second, which is expected to open in February, will be a part of the Park City Clinic on Bonanza Drive.
“This is definitely a family business,” Ramsay said. “And for me, independent retail is what I always wanted to do.”
Walking into the location on Round Valley Drive, shelves are stocked with all the basics: Band-Aids and braces, cough syrup and special creams. Complete with stone features and an electric fireplace, comfort was a factor in the design, Ramsay said.
“I’m not sure I knew what went into running a pharmacy when I first started,” she said. “There’s filling out all the individual insurance information, deciding on inventory, lots of special licenses.”
While it was her first time opening a new pharmacy, Ramsay said she had worked in her father’s business in Hurricane since she was 12 years old. She started with stocking shelves and before long was going to school to follow in her father’s footsteps, and now in the Park City location she can focus on the part of the business she always loved: the customer.
“It was such a natural choice,” she said. “I knew it would be something I would enjoy. I get to really know the patients.”
“It has been more than just a few family members going into the same business,” she added. “This is a legacy now. We all saw the importance in a high standard of care for patients.”
Now Ramsay is the main pharmacist in the store her father’s newest pharmacy, and receives help from her two sisters who are both pharmacist technicians. But that’s not where the family connection stops. Ramsay’s uncle is also a pharmacist, and her cousin works alongside her in the Park City location. The family business is a part of a collective memory in Ramsay’s family, filled with afternoons in her grandfather’s pharmacy store eating ice cream and playing.
Stirland said the small-town charm was and still is a big part of business for him.
“Small pharmacies are becoming fewer and fewer,” he said. “There’s a lot of competition, but we think we can offer something special. There is a niche for small pharmacies that do their jobs well. And that’s what we do.”
The Pharmacy at the Park City Clinic offers a bit of small-town charm Ramsay said, but still offers all the convenience that locals want. Whether it’s personal, same-day delivery or simply informing what a particular medication’s side effects are, the pharmacy offers plenty of services, even hotel deliveries.
“When all is said and done, you go home feeling like you helped someone,” Stirland said. “We’re a little bullheaded, but we think the little guy has a chance. And in Park City, I feel like everyone is on equal ground, that there’s commitment to choosing local.”
The Pharmacy at Park City Clinic
750 Round Valley Drive, #203
435-776-7525
Hours:
Mon. thru Fri. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
New location to open in February.