Saline Pharmacy Has Come to Town

Ziad Ghamraoui is so excited to open his new pharmacy, Saline Pharmacy, located at 75 E. Bennett St. at the corner of N. Ann Arbor St. The pharmacy celebrated its Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting on Friday, July 1.

Attending the celebration were several members of the community, business owners and elected officials. Sandwiches and cookies were served, the first 100 customers were entered into a drawing for a flat screen television, and over the counter medications were half off their original price. The ribbon was cut promptly at 11:15 a.m. and the welcoming celebration began.

Ghamraoui is all about community and people. 

“Our motto is ‘Bringing pharmacy back to the community,’” he said. “I like Saline.” 

He likes Saline so much, that he is pledging to provide "VIP" service to customers, or patients, as he prefers to call them.

“We are a full-service pharmacy and will treat our customers like patients, and not just a transaction,” Ghamraoui said.

He said his entire business will be catered to what the patient needs, whether it is same-day delivery of a prescription, explaining how to take medications and how they will effect the patient, or something as simple as making customers comfortable while they wait for their prescription.  

Customers are expected to wait no longer than 10 minutes, and will have several amenities available to them while they wait. There is an inviting waiting area with comfortable chairs, Wi-Fi, a children’s play table and bookshelf. There are also plans for a television and coffee station. Even now, before the coffee station is set up in the waiting area, Ghamraoui or his staff will offer you a cup from the back while you wait.

Ghamraoui and his team hope they've thought of everything when designing the new space, even the height of the pharmacy wall that separates the store from the process. 

“It is just high enough to have a separation, but low enough so people can see what we are doing, “ Ghamraoui said. “I believe in total transparency.”

He also talked about the importance of confidentiality, forming relationships and building trust in the community so people will be confident in how the Saline Pharmacy will serve them.

Kate Burnep, Saline Pharmacy Lead Tech and Operations Manager, is happy to be on board with the new facility in Saline. 

“We are really fulfilling a need here,” she said. “People are already telling us how happy they are that we are here for the community.”

Saline Pharmacy is tastefully decorated with historic photos of Saline, and materials used to build and refurbish the space were all purchased locally. Ghamraoui is passionate about supporting the local economy, fitting in nicely and being helpful to neighboring businesses.

As comfortable and inviting as the pharmacy is, it is twice that in medical technology, sophistication and professionalism. Ghamraoui has ten years of schooling and credentials behind him and is a clinical pharmacist with a Doctrate in Pharmacy and a Masters in Business Administration. The pharmacy has state of the art software, and follows strict ethical guidelines.

“We are as high tech as possible, while keeping the old school pharmacy in tact," he said.

In addition, the Saline Pharmacy is what is called a "Compound Pharmacy," which means if a pharmaceutical is not available commercially, they can make it on site, rather than sending out for it at a lab. 

“For example, some dentists will prescribe ‘magic mouthwash’ which is a very simple example, and we can make that here,” said Burnep.

Some compounded prescriptions aren’t so simple, but Ghamraoui is extremely qualified to create them. 

“Diabetic creams and ointments are very complicated, but we can make them,” he said.

Ghamraoui is about making life easier for his customers. 

“We are fortunate enough to be positioned to make patients health care needs easier,” he said. 

They will do whatever it takes to make sure patients are taken care of, including speaking to doctors, dealing with insurance companies, and taking special orders.

Burnep also explained the process of changing prescriptions over to the Saline Pharmacy if people so choose. 

“We will make it as easy and as painless as possible to transfer prescriptions,” she said. “Just bring in your prescription card and we will do the rest.”

Pharmacy hours are 9 a.m to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Call Saline Pharmacy at 734-316-2162, emailat info@salinerx.com or find and like it on Facebook.