By Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist 

Sara Hover and I met each other for the first time via video conferencing. Sara is diligently working from home when we connect online. During our conversation, I can hear the front door open and close; people come and go. Even though Sara usually works from home, it puts into mind what a strange time we are living in with the novel coronavirus now a part of our world. For many people, their living room has become their front office. Despite the weirdness of our present day, I still enjoy learning about a PCCA clinical compounding pharmacist’s past.

“Evadale High School,” is the answer Sara gives me when I ask her where she went to school. She spells it out right after she says the name, a common trait among the folks who went to small, rural community schools. 

“Just how small is Evadale?” I ask.

Sara laughs and shrugs her eyebrows when she says, “We had a graduating class of … 34 people.” 

Evadale is a small, Texas town — a paper-mill town – and while Sara is fond of her time there, she was excited when she received a scholarship that allowed her to attend the University of Texas. During her time in Austin, that little slice of California in the Lone Star State, she earned her Bachelor of Science degree. While there, she found herself enjoying the enlightening experience unique to small-town pilgrims making their way to the big city. 

The summer before her senior year, Sara’s life purpose came clearly into view when she took a job at Abrams Royal Compounding Pharmacy in Dallas, Texas. 

“This is it. This is what I want to do. This is my purpose,” she says enthusiastically about her first days in the pharmacy. “That was a huge moment for me during my college independence. I knew, even before I got into pharmacy school, I wanted to work in pharmacy compounding. There was a clarity to it.” 

Sara’s passion for pharmacy compounding is clear when she starts talking about her first interaction with PCCA when she was a student: “We went and had lunch with Dave Sparks, and for us, that was a big deal.”

“You opened and ran your own pharmacy for many years,” I said. “How did that shape that time in your life?” 

Owning a pharmacy was a dream of mine. Having worked in my dad’s electrical contracting business, entrepreneur blood runs through my veins! Looking back, it was so perfect to be able to balance family and work. I brought my kids to work. Even though there were days I didn’t want to wear all the hats all at the same time, I wouldn’t trade it for a minute. I was truly blessed that I didn’t have to miss any milestones with my kids and still fulfill by dream and what I had worked so hard for. I realize that many women have to choose, and it’s a really tough one.
Years later, when she had a chance to join the company as a team member, it was an easy decision. “When the opportunity arose for me to work for PCCA, it felt like coming home,” she says.

“What does it mean to you to work with PCCA’s members?” I ask.

“It’s very meaningful for me,” Sara replies. “I feel like I am a part of this lifeline for pharmacies. And that it’s my responsibility, well, our responsibility, to give members more than they ask for — to go the extra mile for them. One of those reasons being because we cherish the pharmacies we talk to each and every day, but also because at the end of that discussion, there is a patient who needs help. For example, when I help a pharmacy work out a woman’s hormone imbalances, I’m not just helping that woman regulate her hormones and the symptoms that come with, say, menopause. I’m helping a mom or a sister, and by helping her, I’m helping a person’s whole family. Because a happier person, a healthier person, makes a happier and healthier home. That’s very meaningful for me, and for our team.”
Sara’s voice grows more and more excited the more she talks about helping patients and the pharmacies that serve them.

“I typically work with women’s hormone replacement therapy (HRT),” she continues. “I have many members who share their patients’ cases with me, and so we go along together on that journey. We discuss the patient’s symptoms, and we work together to build a plan that helps each particular patient the way they need. That’s what personalized medicine means: one person, one solution. The feedback from those patient stories is always so encouraging. To know that women who are going through difficult hormone issues come back and thank us for that help; that’s very special. Very meaningful for me, that success. Every member, every pharmacist who gives us those success stories, reminds us every day that this is why we do what we do.” 

Sara gives me a specific example when she tells me about a female patient who began to experience a daisy chain of symptoms the patient couldn’t understand, from exhaustion to anxiety, depression to insomnia. Sara being a link in the chain of improving that patient’s life is an experience she describes as singularly “amazing.” 

This is Sara Hover. 

She is a woman who, because of her parents’ diligent hands, has a steadfast work ethic and can rewire her own electrical outlets. She believes her purpose in life will always involve helping people through pharmacy compounding. And for almost seven years, she has been a part of PCCA’s Clinical Services team — a journey, she says, that makes her feel blessed.