AUBURN — As a junior at Rumford High School, Paul Martel was all set up to start a job shadowing a local optometrist, when fate and a car accident steered him to shadow a local pharmacist instead.

After the first day shadowing Frank Hargreaves and his team, Martel says he was captivated. “I thought, this is unbelievable, this is incredible. You get to help people; you get to actually make a difference.”

Off to Boston and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, where Martel graduated with his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy after five years of schooling. He then obtained his pharmaceutical license.

Thirty years later, Martel is still captivated and still helping patients and customers as the pharmacy manager at Hannaford in Auburn, where he and his team of 16 do a lot more than count pills and fill prescriptions.

While the role of the pharmacist has been evolving for the last 100 years, the COVID-19 pandemic was a game changer. Pharmacists and technicians are now more focused on patient-care services and less on the product.

“The interactions were different, but I think the interactions became much more personal because of COVID,” Martel said. “People felt very shuttered in — they couldn’t get their medications, they couldn’t get access to things they needed.”

Shelves were emptied, masks and wipes were treated like prized possessions — if you could find them. All along, it was the pharmacy that people increasingly turned to for help with their medical questions, when getting an appointment to see a physician or nurse became almost impossible.

“Since COVID we do a lot more follow-up with doctors’ offices getting patients refills,” Martel explained, “that’s not such an automated process as most people think. I probably place 100 phone calls a day on average to physicians’ offices to get patients what they need.”

Martel adds that insurance companies and insurance coverage aren’t all universal and they aren’t all the same. “That information has to be retrieved and then we have to go through the process of trying to figure out if your medication is covered. So, we go through formulary issues, and we battle against that every day and then we battle against prior authorizations all the time.”

Martel credits Hannaford with instituting curbside delivery of prescriptions, combined with a two-pronged delivery option for its customers using the U.S. Postal Service and a private delivery service — a service that remains intact today.

Martel says those steps helped keep customers and the pharmacy staff safe and reduced some of the stress for patients at a time of high anxiety.

Pharmacists have stepped up their role as vaccinators, something the National Institutes of Health describes as “vital” in boosting vaccination coverage rates, removing obstacles to getting vaccines and improving vaccine education.

In addition to vaccines, Martel says they now play a bigger role in other aspects of health care too. “Clinical work that we do, doing medication therapy management, (in) which you know you’re looking for medication-related problems for patients and a host of other things.”

The arrival of asylum seekers and migrants to Maine accelerated after the pandemic as well, creating another challenge for local pharmacists — a language barrier. “I think it’s another whole population,” Martel explained. While at first they only had Google translate, Hannaford came up with a better solution.

“One of the things that Hannaford has allowed us to do … is a new system called language line.” It allows a pharmacist or technician to be on the phone with the patient and a translator, facilitating a three-way conversation to discuss medication questions and problems and work out a solution.

“I think it’s very critical,” Martel said. “I think you could not give good health care if you’re not truly trying to help people understand.”

Paul Martel’s passion for what he does becomes obvious after just a few minutes of talking with him. He says he does get thanks from customers, and Hannaford recently awarded him its Eastern Pharmacist of the Year award — high praise from an employer and his peers.

Hannaford says the criteria for the award includes leadership, delivering results, and representing Hannaford and the pharmacy profession every day. The winners exemplify Hannaford’s values of care, integrity, humor, and teamwork, while contributing to the positive health outcomes of their patients and their community.

After nearly three decades as a pharmacist, Martel says he absolutely loves what he does because he gets to help people get the health care that they truly deserve.

“You know, when people leave here, they leave here happy, they get real customer service. I think they have a team here — myself included — that truly cares about them, their family, and their quality life. And I hang my hat on that every day.”

So, what does a multi-tasking pharmacy manager do when he’s not on the phone, consulting with patients, or putting out fires? His haven is a home on Lake Sabattus.

“When I get home, I have two black Labs, which usually, depending on the time of the day, we’ll go for a walk or run or something like that. I do a lot of running anyway myself. I try to run a good three to five miles a day.”

Martel says he also likes to read a lot. “Reading is a very thoughtless, mindless activity for me, and I try to get lost within that to try to get out of this,” referring to the always-busy pharmacy and the cacophony of intercom pages, squeaky shopping carts and chatter of a busy supermarket.

Martel says he reads a lot of fiction and mysteries but says he doesn’t necessarily have a favorite author. “I mean, I like Stephen King … I’ve read all his books. He’s from Maine so ….”

He’s currently reading a prayer book. “I’m very big on my faith. I believe my faith gets me through each and every day.”

The definition and role of a pharmacy may have forever changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, but the job clearly extends beyond just dispensing drugs. “You know, God gave me the brains and the wherewithal to go to pharmacy school and to get through it” Martel said. “And I am just blessed to be able to help people.”

“Working” is a monthly feature highlighting an individual, group or business and focuses on what they do for their job. It’s a great way to recognize people for their work or an entire career. If you have a suggestion for or would like to nominate someone for recognition, send me a note:  cwheelock@sunjournal.com .

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