Recommended: Pharmacy

Our companion email list, the Cleveland Park Listserv, is a treasure trove of recommendations. We want to share on All Life Is Local, on a periodic basis, the best recommendations that have been posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv. You'll be able to search All Life Is Local for "contractor," "plumber," "computer tech," "auto body shop" -- whatever you need.


I wanted to share my extremely positive recent experience with Rodman's pharmacy and particularly commend them to anyone who needs medicine compounded. They really came through for me on every possible front!

When I walked out of the pediatrician's office not long after noon with a prescription to treat my baby's rash, I had no idea that the medicated cream needed to be compounded and that this could be a big deal. The CVS near the doctor's office (Spring Valley) told me that they couldn't have it ready until at least 9pm, even if they had the ingredients on hand (which they'd have to check). Okay, fine, I thought; I'll go to the bigger 24-hr CVS on Wisconsin Ave, which is nearer to my house anyway. Surprisingly, the news there was even worse: It would take until the following morning, if not the day after that (!): they do all their compounding at night, so there was no way my 15-month-old could start getting relief sooner--at least from CVS. "But you could try Rodman's."

Nothing ventured, nothing gained: I headed up Wisconsin and by the time I rolled the stroller into the back entrance of Rodman's, baby had fallen asleep. Great for redressing her wailing and interrupted sleep of the previous night -- not great for my getting downstairs to Rodman's pharmacy (no elevator, and stroller can't go down the escalator; removing and carrying baby down would work with the wakeful, but if I took her out of the stroller now, bye-bye napping). So a kind employee went to investigate what could be done; almost immediately, a staff member came upstairs to help. While sleeping baby and I remained upstairs, he took my prescription and insurance card down to the pharmacy, soon returning with an answer:

"We can do the compounding, but we're a little bit backed up. It might take as long as half an hour."

Music to my ears! So I wheeled sleeping baby around the store for a while (and stocked up on useful items while facilitating her nap), then called the Rodman's phone number as the staff member had suggested, to check whether the prescription was ready. It was. The staff member brought the prescription upstairs to me, took me through a checkout line that could handle the transaction, and made sure that I had everything that I needed. "We're usually able to get them filled more quickly than this," he added.

I would happily turn to Rodman's pharmacy again for prescription needs (with or without the complications of compounding!) and want to thank their staff for going out of their way to be so helpful. I'd always appreciated them for their variety of specialty foods, beer & wine, and household items, but the pharmacy hadn't really made it on to my radar. Now I hope that other neighbors can profit from knowing!