The founders of Lehan Drugs, brothers Jim Lehan, Sr. and Emory Lehan are both set to be inducted as inaugural members of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame.  As the great grandson of James and the great-great nephew of Emory, it is amazing to hear the stories and see the pictures of the business they created in Lehan Drugs more than 60 years ago (http://www.lehandrugs.com/about/history.html).  They laid the foundation for what Lehan Drugs has been able to accomplish over that time and all of us here are honored to see them inducted.

Jim Sr. served the DeKalb Community for over 30 years and throughout his professional life, he was always very active in helping to promote the downtown DeKalb area.  Under his leadership, during the 1950’s and 60’s Lehan Drugs was the meeting place of the community with daily customer counts over 1000 people. With a food counter and soda fountain, Lehan Drugs was one of the most popular eating destinations in DeKalb, not to mention a busy pharmacy. His customers loved him and his commitment to customer service is still our trademark today.

Emory also served the DeKalb Community for the majority of his adult life.  After serving his country in the United States Army he joined his brother in opening Lehan Drugs in downtown DeKalb. Emory was a consummate businessman and entrepreneur and was extremely active in the running of Lehan Drugs. He could often be found in the store office going over figures and handing out notes to employees for projects he wanted accomplished. Emory was also instrumental in opening Kampus Korner on the campus of NIU, a state of the art 2 floor business that catered to the NIU students. He was also on the Chamber of Commerce Board of directors and served as its president.

Although they are no longer with us, we hope that both of them would be proud of the business that we run today.

-Jim

We are pleased to announce that Lehan Drugs has been named a finalist for the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Award!  This is truly an honor and all of us here are humbled by the recognition.  A big thank you goes out to all of our patients – you all make an award like this possible! 

The winner of the 2009 Business of the Year will be announced at the Annual Celebration Dinner held on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at the Egyptian Theatre. The event will begin at 5pm with a Cocktail/Social hour, followed by dinner at 6pm, and the evening’s program will start at approximately 7pm.

The other nominees are:

B95 WDKB – FM

Best Buy

North Central Cyclery 

Schnucks

Again, we are honored by this recognition and look forward to continuing to serve our community and patients each and every day!

Some lots of Tylenol, Motrin, Rolaids, Simply Sleep, St. Joseph Aspirin® brands have recently been recalled. 

Check your medicine cabinet to make sure you don’t have one of the affected lots….apparently they have been recalled due to a nauseating smell emanating from the bottle when opened.  Click the links below for more information, or call their Customer Care Center at 1-888-222-6036.

https://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/page.jhtml?id=/include/prd_tylenol.inc

Back in July, my grandpa Jim and I went to a compounding training course for a week in Houston, Texas at PCCA (Professional Compounding Centers of America). We received intensive training in a variety of compounding techniques. PCCA is the country’s premier pharmacy compounding organization. They provide training, equipment, chemicals, and expertise to make sure their members are able to compound effectively for their patients. On top of that, we invested in some brand new, state of the art equipment and ongoing education.

When we decided to update our website, we had a decision to make:  do we sell our products on the internet?  All the big chains do, and why not?  It seems like an easy way to market your products to people all over the  country.  Easy money right?  But, like our slogan says, we’re more than medicine, and there’s more to what we provide than just the products.

Lehan’s has always been “different” because of the level of service we provide to our customers and patients. Part of the Lehan’s experience is that personal service. It might be the attention our pharmacists give to a patient picking up prescriptions or picking out a cough or cold medicine. It might be the time our home medical department spends helping a patient get the right fit for a brace or compression product. It might be our respiratory therapist making sure you fully understand how to operate your oxygen or respiratory equipment.  Or it might just be the fact that someone here remembers your name. 

The internet provides a lot of benefits to our society, but it certainly lacks in human interaction, the face-to-face encounter, and the reassurance that someone in your community cares about your well-being.  So, in the end, we decided not to sell our products on the website.  We hope you’ll come in to see us, and I don’t think it will take you long to understand why.

Jon Lehan, Pharm.D

Timothy Lehan of Lehan Drugs Inc. in DeKalb was the recipient of the 2009 Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award, a national award that honors a practicing pharmacist who has developed an innovative patient care program.
One award is presented per state by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. The award was presented recently at the Illinois Pharmacists Annual Conference in Peoria. Lehan is a 1976 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and was recently elected to the Illinois Pharmacists Association Board of Directors.

As this year’s award recipient, Lehan has developed and implemented an innovative patient care program in his pharmacy. Besides providing a very extensive durable medical supply service, he has a progressive immunization program. Immunization services in pharmacy are emerging and the public is becoming more aware of the value and extraordinary contributions pharmacists provide to improving the vaccination rates of their communities. As the No. 1 immunizer in DeKalb County, Lehan is a pioneer in this area of his profession, according to a news release.

In partnership with his wife, Ann, also a pharmacist, Lehan established an immunization program in his pharmacy in 2000 and administered less than 100 immunizations that year. This year, the program has expanded to five immunizing pharmacists and he hopes to immunize around 3,000 patients.

Lehan also assists other Illinois pharmacists with their immunization management and billing questions. Lehan’s mission is “to deliver the highest quality pharmaceutical care possible on a very personal and individualized basis,” according to the release. As this year’s Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award recipient, Lehan has demonstrated both the entrepreneurial and patient focused aspects that should be exemplified in the innovative pharmacy practice award.

We’re Up and Running!

We are EXTREMELY excited to have our new website up and running.  We hope you’ll find it informational, interesting, and easy to navigate.  I have to thank my wife, Briana, for spearheading the effort to get us a better presence on the web.  I’d also like to thank MorningStar Media Group, another local business, for doing our marketing and web design.  I’ve looked at a lot of other independent community pharmacy websites, and I really am proud of what we’ve created.

Lehan’s has been in DeKalb since 1946, and we’ve lasted that long because of the relationship we have with our community.  I’m now part of a fourth generation of Lehan’s, committed to continuing our family’s long tradition of caring for our patients, who are also our friends, family, and neighbors.

Over the years, Lehan’s has adapted, changed, moved (many times), and had our ups and downs.  This year we’ve added on a new location in the DeKalb Clinic, rolled out a new logo, a new website, and a new slogan.

Sometimes slogans are just slogans…something to catch your ear or your eye.  When we decided on “We’re more than medicine,” it was more than just a catchy expression.  It is a phrase our entire team really believes in.  For us, it has never just been about how many prescriptions we can pump out, or how much ibuprofen we can sell.  Lehan’s offers unique services and customer care that goes above and beyond what your average pharmacy does.  We truly are more than the medicine: we’re a unique healthcare experience.

We plan on using this blog as an informational resource. It is an easy way to pass along information to our patients on a variety of topics.  I also envision it as a place for us to throw in our “two cents,” when we feel like we need to.  I hope you’ll check back from time to time, and all of us here look forward to continuing to be able to provide the DeKalb and Sycamore area with the care you’ve all come to expect from us.

Jon Lehan, Pharm.D