Cedar Care Village Pharmacy plans unveiled

A new pharmacy with rare educational opportunities took another step forward in Cedarville.

Dozens from the village turned out for a community event Tuesday as Cedarville University unveiled plans for the new Cedar Care Village Pharmacy.

It will be the second teaching pharmacy in the state of Ohio.

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Students will be able to “learn not just how to do pharmacy, but how to care and serve and love others,” said Dr. Thomas White, Cedarville University president.

The pharmacy will fill a void in the village, according to local nurse, LuAnn Ragel.

“A lot of our clients are elderly and it's difficult to get transportation to pharmacies in the area,” Ragel said, "We did have a pharmacy that worked out quite well for them and when it left, it was quite a loss. So it is nice to have a pharmacy coming back."

The move is also bittersweet because the pharmacy will be located in the former Cedarville Hardware on North Main Street, which was in business for over 60 years.

“We hate to lose the hardware store, but this is going to be so wonderful. We’ll be able to get our prescriptions fast like we were before,” said Debbie Cagwin.

The plans for the pharmacy include a community room, a consultation area, a small hardware section and one feature that delighted many in the community.

"The fact that there is going to be a soda fountain," said Cagwin. "I know that’s not a health thing, but that’s part of an old style pharmacy."

The goal is to blend the old with the new, according to Cedar Care pharmacist Joe Ballentine.

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“We will maintain the historic integrity of the building as much as possible,” said Ballentine. “It will have an old-time apothecary feel to it, but we are going to mix that with cutting edge technology.”

Cedarville pharmacy student Joel Sweeney spoke at the event and said he is looking forward to getting hands-on experience.

“This opportunity gives me a chance to invest back into the village of Cedarville and to serve the surrounding community,” Sweeney said.

The Cedar Care Village Pharmacy will operate as a for-profit tax-paying LLC.

A grand opening date has not yet been set, but the pharmacy is expected to open in the fall of 2018, according to a news release.

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