juneau gets its pharmacy back

and it's going into the same storefront the last one left.

For almost three years, Juneau hasn't had a compounding pharmacy anywhere in town. That's the kind that mixes a prescription to order when the standard version doesn't work for you.

Think a child who can't swallow a pill, or someone allergic to a dye in the usual formula. The shop that did that work in Juneau ran for nearly 50 years before it closed at the end of 2023, and it was one of only a handful in the whole state.

Ordering a custom prescription and waiting on a plane is a normal part of life out here, and it's the part that gets old fastest.

The region's tribal health consortium is opening a new one in the Mendenhall Valley, in that same space beside the grocery store. They say they're trying to fill a gap for communities across Southeast.

The manager running the new counter used to work behind the old one, and he'll be training the new staff.

There's a retail side too, over the counter medicine and health products, same as it was when the old shop was running.

Compounding starts September eighth. It's open to anyone, not just their own patients, and they'll mail prescriptions out to communities across Southeast.