The Wonder Women of Middleburg’s Safeway Pharmacy

The Wonder Women of Middleburg’s Safeway Pharmacy

By Carina Elgin

The busiest place in Middleburg per square inch is undeniably the Safeway Pharmacy. Just ask any of those mostly patient patrons who always seem to be waiting in line between the vitamin display and the baking potatoes.

Three remarkable women have gone a long way toward getting this small town through the pandemic, meeting the Middleburg area’s pharmaceutical needs with efficiency and a smile, even when they probably felt like howling at the moon.

Pharmacy service with a smile from Cathy Davis, Aruna Chintamaneni and Lisa West. All three are only together one day a week.

Photo by Carina Elgin

In a space that’s less than 30 square feet, filled with shelves of bottles, computers and an endlessly ringing phone, they manage to call doctors offices, contact insurance companies, administer a variety of vaccines, and fill some 800-1,000 prescriptions per week.

Sit in one of the two chairs tucked into the cramped “waiting area,” and your view is usually the “back pocket” of the person at the customer window. Sometimes, two more chairs, and maybe a folding table, would overflow into the vitamin-potato line. This is where they’ve given about 2,000 Covid vaccinations.

The first friendly face customers see is usually pharmacy technician Lisa West, who grew up in Warrenton and went to Fauquier High School.

“I kind of fell into this job when a former employee told me about it,” she said.

“I was offered the job and my career started.” That was 22 years ago. Cathy Davis is one of the two full-time pharmacists, the blonde with those kind blue eyes visible above her mask. Davis grew up in Richmond and in North Carolina, but now lives in Haymarket. She’s been at the Safeway pharmacy for 13 years.

“I worked for the Virginia Board of Pharmacy right out of pharmacy school, as an inspector for eight years,” she said. “Then I then took time off to raise my girls, and came back to work here in 2009.”

Aruna Chintamaneni exudes compassion and patience, like the others. She grew up in India, and now lives in Ashburn. She decided to “go with pharmacy so that I can help people.” She’s been a pharmacist for 18 years, the past six at the Safeway.

Despite their frequently frenetic pace, all three woman clearly are enamored with Middleburg.

Chintamaneni described it as a “beautiful small village, where people are always very friendly and helpful.”

Davis loves all the dogs, and how beautiful the town is at Christmas. She adds, “our customers are so good to us. They make the job worth it.”

And, she’s made countless friends working behind the sliding glass windows of the pharmacy. “I know their names, their children’s names, grandchildren’s names, their pets’ names,” she said. “I see people I went to school with. The best part of working in a small village is recognizing people walking on the street, saying hi, and telling them to have a great day.”

The stress of the pandemic has taken its toll on everyone, particularly among health care professionals. While this Safeway staff never complains, many customers say they’d like to see the pharmacy have more space to serve the community, especially when giving vaccines.

It’s obvious there’s no room to add more staff. Even two people behind the counter have to choreograph their movements.

So, for now, at least, the daily line of customers will continue, sometimes even backing up to the carrots. Still, the Safeway pharmacy staff somehow manages to stay kind, patient and professional in every way, cramped quarters or not.

Good for them. Better for us.