Table Rock Pharmacy recognized for innovation, advocacy

“Are you serious, are you sure?” Jessi Stout repeated, stunned to learn she and her husband, Michael, had made the final cut for Cardinal Health’s Community Leadership award.

The Stouts, who own and operate Table Rock Pharmacy and Compounding in Morganton, are now one of three finalists nationwide for the honor, which celebrates independent pharmacists going above and beyond for their community.

The winner will be announced at Cardinal Health’s annual conference in Denver, Colo., this July and will receive a $10,000 donation to the pharmacy organization of their choice. The other two finalists will each receive $5,000.

“It felt surreal,” Jessi said. There are so many pharmacists doing incredible work across the country.

For Jessi, what sets Table Rock Pharmacy apart is its blend of innovation and a strong commitment to positive patient outcomes.

“We’re always on the lookout for new ways to expand and improve our services,” she said. “As soon as a new opportunity presents itself, we act quickly to implement it.”

That mindset is what led Table Rock to be one of the first pharmacies in North Carolina to administer the yellow fever vaccine, something Jessi had advocated for over two years. As soon as state authorization came through, she jumped into action, completing the required training and ordering the necessary documentation, so that they could start offering the vaccine immediately.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Table Rock was also the only pharmacy in the region offering REGEN-COV and EVUSHELD injections. Patients from Asheville and Charlotte frequently drove to Morganton to receive EVUSHELD treatment. EVUSHELD is an emergency-use treatment used as a pre-exposure measure to help prevent COVID-19.

Jessi also mentioned that Table Rock Pharmacy expanded its services to include hormonal contraception prescriptions, administration of long-acting injectables, travel vaccine consultations, EpiPen prescriptions, alongside custom compounding, and same-day delivery.

Despite widespread power outages and fallen trees from Hurricane Helene, the Stouts still kept the pharmacy open. The Stouts recorded transactions by hand to ensure patients could still get their prescriptions. At one point, they transported a generator by wheelbarrow to keep critical medication frozen.

Jessi isn’t afraid to stand up for change. A social media post Jessi made criticizing Hurricane Helene audits by Optum went viral. This attention resulted in audits being paused for hurricane-affected areas.

In 2024, she uncovered troubling fee practices tied to Caremark’s partnership with GoodRx. Her findings led to an invitation to speak before the North Carolina State Health Plan Board of Trustees. Her testimony prompted a unanimous vote to investigate PBM practices.

By July, the GoodRx partnership was terminated, making some gains toward improving pharmacy reimbursements and lowering copays for patients statewide.

In January, Jessi co-founded the Patient Health Access Coalition (PHAC) to unify statewide grassroots PBM reform lobbying. Even with her busy job at the pharmacy and as a mom, she still makes time to lead webinars, create advocacy material, and talk with state legislators.

She was honored twice in 2024, as the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists’ Community Care Pharmacist of the Year and with the President’s Service Award for her relentless advocacy.

In preparation for the award ceremony, a film crew visited Morganton to document the Stouts’ story, capturing footage at locations around Morganton for a video that will be shown before the awards presentation this summer.

Helping to tell the story were Tonya Ceron, the pharmacy’s longest-serving staff member, and Dr. Anne Gonzalez, who collaborated with the pharmacy on hurricane relief efforts through Operation Streamline. Also highlighted was the Stouts’ work to replace a customer’s medication after her home to Hurricane Helene.

The Stouts will travel to Denver with their family this July to attend the conference, which represents nearly 4,000 pharmacies across the country.

The financial award the Stouts receive will be donated to the National Community Pharmacy Association to support ongoing efforts in “fighting the injustices caused by Pharmacy Benefits Managers,” she said.

“This acknowledgement means so much; recognition reassures us that our efforts are making a difference and are truly valued.”