MOSES LAKE — Small town feel, big time service is the business plan John Rackham and Mark DuVall want to project with the newest independent pharmacy in Moses Lake.

There was a passing of the torch so to speak when two Washington State graduates bought Pioneer Medical Center Pharmacy from longtime business owners David and Rebecca Thomas. The pharmacy located at the Samaritan Clinic at 1550 S. Pioneer Way is now called Laketown Pharmacy, but it still operates in the same spirit for customer service it has for the past three decades. “David and Becky have been in business in Moses Lake for 30 years, 17 in this building,” Rackham said. “We really appreciate all of their hard work and dedication to their patients over the years and making the transition as smooth as possible. We want to reassure the residents of Moses Lake that we will build upon that legacy.” Rackham and DuVall are Columbia Basin born and raised. Rackham grew up in Moses Lake. He has been a pharmacist for seven years and pharmacy manager for a local chain for the last five years. DuVall’s father owned a pharmacy in Royal City a number of years ago. He has been a pharmacy manager for two local chains. “We’re local guys,” Rackham said with a laugh. “It’s important in that we’ve seen the changes in the community. We can say, ‘this is a problem we’ve seen over the years,’ compared to someone that just comes in and wants to run a business. We know a lot of people in town and developed personal relationships, which is helping to grow the business.” It’s a homecoming of sorts for DuVall as well. “For me to come back to Moses Lake is important,” he said. “My mother grew up here in town, there’s eight siblings. My wife’s family is here. We found ourselves coming back almost every weekend between her parents and mine. So when the opportunity came up, it just made sense.” Both Rackham and DuVall are Washington State University graduates. They plan on getting the WSU Pharmacy alumni involved and stress the importance of local businesses support as they offer better customer experiences and services than what people might experience at chain pharmacy. “We felt we could do it better than what we could do with a corporate operation, because we don’t have the same restrictions,” DuVall said. “Meaning, there are guidelines that you have to reach this benchmark before you can add any extra hours or help at all. If we know we’re going to add a new program that’s going to drive business, we can plan for that and actually hire a person before hand. It’s much easier to make those decisions that will directly affect the pharmacy on a daily basis.” Said Rackham, “Another point, with independent pharmacies, for the most part, we all get along and we’re all willing to share information,” he said. “Once they know that you’ve taken over, they say ask me any question you want. To have that unique network of people that know exactly what you’re going through is important.” Laketown Pharmacy will be offering some innovative services such as refill syncing where patients will be able to pick up all of their medications on the same day every month or every three months. They will provide smart-phone apps where patients can refill their prescriptions with a push of a button. They also have a website with updated health and wellness information, as well as a possible “Ask the pharmacist section.”