IPC Member Spotlight:
Bernie’s Pharmacy

When people think of Alaska, they often picture snow-capped mountains, sprawling wilderness, and communities separated by hundreds of miles of rugged terrain. What many may not realize is how differently pharmacy operates in America’s largest state. In some parts of Alaska, patients cannot simply drive down the road to pick up a prescription. Medications may need to travel by plane or marine highway to reach the people who depend on them. Providing healthcare across a state this vast requires more than logistics. It requires commitment.

For 46 years, Bernie’s Pharmacy in Anchorage has embraced that responsibility. Founded by Bernie Klouda on June 1, 1980, the independent pharmacy has built its reputation around personalized care, specialized compounding, and a willingness to meet patients’ needs wherever they call home. Today, that mission continues under the leadership of Terri Hall, who has spent years honoring Bernie’s vision while finding new ways to move the pharmacy forward.

The story of Bernie’s Pharmacy is, at its heart, a story about people. Bernie was a fifth-generation Alaskan, a pharmacist, a mentor, and a passionate advocate for independent pharmacy. He opened the pharmacy with a vision of providing professional services that went beyond the scope of a chain pharmacy. Bernie wanted patients to feel comfortable walking through the door and confident that the pharmacy would remain part of their continuity of care after a visit with their doctor.

Over the years, Bernie became an influential leader within the profession, but his impact was perhaps felt most personally through the students he mentored. He regularly welcomed pharmacy students into the business for internship rotations, giving aspiring pharmacists an opportunity to experience independent pharmacy and learn what patient-centered care looked like in practice.

Terri’s own pharmacy journey began long before she moved to Alaska. Although she is not a pharmacist, she entered the profession around 1980 and later opened her first store in New York in 1988 after working for another independent pharmacy for six years. She went on to own and operate multiple healthcare businesses, including a durable medical equipment business, and built a career grounded in entrepreneurship, leadership, and community service.

Meeting Bernie brought a new chapter. His love for Alaska and independent pharmacy eventually persuaded Terri to move north, where she became part of both the pharmacy and the Anchorage community. When Bernie passed away, Terri stepped forward to protect the institution he had built. She understood the responsibility that came with his name, his vision, and the trust patients had placed in the pharmacy for decades.

Bernie, she believes, understood what she was capable of and trusted that she could keep the pharmacy on a steady path. That trust remains part of what drives her today. Terri continues to look for ways to grow the business without losing the qualities that made it meaningful in the first place.

Compounding has been part of the pharmacy from the beginning and remains one of its most distinctive specialties. With only a small number of local compounders serving the state, Bernie’s Pharmacy plays an important role for patients who need medications that are not commercially available in the necessary strength or dosage form. The pharmacy’s on-site compounding capabilities also support veterinarians who need easier-to-administer options for animals.

In Alaska, that work can take an especially memorable turn. Bernie’s Pharmacy partners with organizations that care for orphaned and injured wildlife, including the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. Terri proudly remembers the pharmacy compounding an antibiotic for a baby beluga, one example of how the team’s expertise can support care far beyond the usual pharmacy counter.

The pharmacy’s reach also extends beyond Anchorage. Patients in rural communities may live hundreds of miles from a community pharmacy, sometimes in places that cannot be reached by road. Bernie’s Pharmacy mails medications to patients across the state, stays in regular contact with them, and provides pharmacist counseling when they begin new therapies. When those patients travel to Anchorage for medical care, many make a point to visit the pharmacy they have known only through phone calls and mailed prescriptions.

Terri is quick to credit the people who carry the pharmacy’s mission forward each day. Some employees have served Bernie’s Pharmacy for 15, 18, 27, or even 29 years. That kind of longevity has created a close-knit team with a shared understanding of what patients expect when they walk through the door.

The team knows that the best customer service often matters most when a patient is not feeling well or is working to manage a chronic condition. Their experience allows them to provide personal attention while maintaining the professional standards that have defined the pharmacy since 1980. In an industry where staffing remains difficult, the commitment of longtime employees is both a point of pride and an important part of the pharmacy’s continuity.

That continuity does not mean the business has stood still. Bernie’s Pharmacy continues to adapt by broadening its services and finding opportunities that are less affected by traditional prescription reimbursement pressures. By remaining well-rounded, the pharmacy can care for more of each patient’s needs while strengthening the business for the future.

The 11th Annual Klouda Classic was held August 7, 2026, at Moose Run Golf Course’s Hill Course near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The day included golf across the rolling course, followed by an awards banquet, live music, and silent and live auctions at The Hotel Captain Cook. The setting may be unmistakably Alaskan, but the purpose is universal: reducing financial barriers for students entering the pharmacy profession.

Through The Klouda Foundation, first-year students in the joint University of Alaska Anchorage and Idaho State University Doctor of Pharmacy program receive $1,000 scholarships as they begin their education. Since 2017, the foundation has awarded $88,000 in scholarships. The tournament has grown year after year as its name and mission have reached more supporters, including golfers who travel from the lower 48 to participate.

For Terri, the impact becomes real when those students later walk through the doors of Bernie’s Pharmacy. Scholarship recipients return for six-week rotations, while first-year students may complete shorter community pharmacy experiences with the team. They arrive curious about compounding, customer service, and the realities of operating an independent pharmacy in Alaska. Each student represents another opportunity to carry the profession forward and, perhaps, another future employee, partner, or owner who could continue the legacy.

IPC’s advocacy relationships have provided another point of connection. Terri continues to work with IPC and industry partners on advocacy efforts involving NCPA and the Alaska Pharmacists Association. IPC also supported the 2026 Klouda Classic, reinforcing a partnership that reaches beyond purchasing and into the shared work of strengthening the profession.

When Terri thinks about the future, her greatest hope comes from the students the foundation has supported. She sees their appreciation when they return for rotations, but she also sees their interest in the kind of pharmacy Bernie believed in: a pharmacy where professionals know their patients, solve unusual problems, and remain accountable to the communities they serve.

That future matters deeply in Alaska. Rural patients still need a trusted pharmacy that can reach them when no local option exists. Veterinarians and wildlife organizations still need specialized medications. Students still need mentors who can show them what independent ownership and patient-centered care look like in the real world.

The name Bernie’s Pharmacy holds meaning because of the values behind it, and the need for those values will remain significant in Alaska.

More than four decades after Bernie first opened the doors, the pharmacy continues to serve, teach, adapt, and give back. The Klouda Foundation is helping new pharmacists begin their journeys, the Klouda Classic is bringing a community together around their success, and Bernie’s Pharmacy is proving that a legacy does not stay in the past when people choose to keep building on it.