Paul Martel is doing much more than just filling your prescriptions

AUBURN — As a senior at Rumford High School, Paul Martell was preparing to start a job shadowing a local optometrist, but fate and a car accident led him to shadow a local pharmacist instead. It happened.

After his first day following Frank Hargreaves and his team, Martel says he was completely captivated. “I thought this is unbelievable, unbelievable. You can help people. You can actually make a difference.”

He headed to Boston and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, where Martell graduated with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy after five years of education. Afterwards, he obtained his pharmacist’s license.

Pharmacist Paul Martel works at a pharmacy in Auburn Hannaford on March 14. Andriy Khan/Sun Journal

Thirty years later, Martel is still fascinated and helping patients and customers as a pharmacy manager at Hannaford in Auburn. There, he and his team of 16 people do more than just count pills and fill prescriptions.

The role of pharmacists has evolved over the past 100 years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the game. Pharmacists and technicians are now focused on patient care services rather than products.

“The interactions were different, but I think because of COVID, the interactions were more personal,” Martel said. “People felt very closed off. They couldn’t get medicine, they couldn’t access the things they needed.”

Shelves were empty and masks and wipes were treated like valuables – if you could find them. When it became nearly impossible to schedule an appointment to see a doctor or nurse, pharmacies were the place people turned to for medical questions.

“Since COVID-19, we’ve been doing a lot more follow-up with doctors’ offices to get patients refilled their medications,” Martel explained. “It’s not as automated a process as most people think. I think he probably makes an average of 100 calls a day to the clinic to get what the patient needs.”

Martel added that not all insurance companies and insurance coverages are universal and not all are the same. “You have to go through a process to get that information and see if your drug is covered. So we look at the official issue and we fight that every day, and then we always fight prior authorization. .”

Martell credits Hannaford with initiating over-the-counter delivery of prescriptions combined with a two-way delivery option for customers using the U.S. Postal Service and private delivery services. This service remains in place today.

Martel said these measures have helped keep customers and pharmacy staff safe and alleviate some of the stress for patients at a time of heightened anxiety.

Mr. Hannaford recently presented the Eastern Pharmacist of the Year Award to Auburn Pharmacy Manager Paul Martel. Andriy Khan/Sun Journal

Pharmacists are playing an increasingly important role as vaccinators. National Institutes of Health It called it “essential” to increase vaccination rates, remove barriers to vaccination and improve vaccine education.

In addition to vaccines, Martel says they are now playing a big role in other aspects of health care. “The clinical work we do is medication therapy management, and you find us looking for issues related to a patient’s medication and a number of other things.”

Even after the pandemic, the influx of asylum seekers and immigrants into Maine has accelerated, creating a new challenge for local pharmacists: the language barrier. “I think it’s a whole other population,” Martel explained. Initially he only used Google Translate, but Hannaford came up with a better solution.

“One of the things that Hannaford has enabled us to do is a new system called Language Line.” It allows pharmacists or technicians to talk to patients and interpreters over the phone, and Facilitates a three-way conversation to discuss questions and issues and find solutions.

“I think this is very significant,” Martel said. “I don’t think you can provide good medical care if you’re not genuinely trying to help people understand.”

Paul Martel’s passion for his work becomes clear after just a few minutes of talking with him. He says he’s sure his customers will appreciate it, and Hannaford University recently awarded him the Eastern Pharmacist of the Year award. This is high praise from his employer and his colleagues.

Hannaford said criteria for the award include leadership, delivery of results and day-to-day representation of Hannaford and the pharmacy profession. Recipients embody Hannaford’s values ​​of care, integrity, humor and teamwork, contributing to positive health outcomes for patients and their communities.

After nearly 30 years as a pharmacist, Martel said he truly loves his job because he gets to help people get the health care they deserve.

“When people leave here, they leave here satisfied and receive true customer service. I think we have a team. And I hang my hat on that every day.”

So what does this multitasking pharmacy manager do when he’s not answering phones, consulting with patients, or fighting fires? His haven is his home on Lake Sabatos .

“When I get home, I have two black labs and depending on the time, I go out for walks or runs. I run a lot myself. I try to run a solid 3 to 5 miles a day. ”

Martell also likes reading. “Reading for me is a very thoughtless and thoughtless act, and I try to get out of this situation by immersing myself in it,” she says in a constantly crowded pharmacy, a cacophony of intercom pages, and a creaking shopping cart. , mentioned the shopper’s voice. A busy supermarket.

Martel reads a lot of novels and mysteries, but says she doesn’t necessarily have a favorite author. “I mean, I like Stephen King…I’ve read all his books. He’s from Maine, so…”

He is reading a prayer book now. “I value my faith very much. I believe that my faith gets me through each day.”

The COVID-19 pandemic may have forever changed the definition and role of pharmacies, but their job is clearly much more than just dispensing drugs. “You know, God gave me the brains and the wherewithal to go to pharmacy school and get through it,” Martell said. “And I’m really happy to be able to help people.”

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