LaGrange pharmacist Tommy Whitworth is back as full-time retail pharmacist with the Medicine Cabinet after a five-year absence.

Whitworth worked as a retail pharmacist and owner for Corley’s Drugs for 20 years before the business was sold to CVS in 2012. Whitworth will lead the Medicine Cabinet’s new pharmacy at Lee’s Crossing (Roanoke Road) when it’s up and running.

The business is expected to open by the end of the year and will feature a coffee shop along with a full pharmacy. The Medicine Cabinet will grind and roast its own coffee beans.

“I was born here and have been living here all my life practically,” Whitworth said.

While Corley was being acquired by CVS, Medicine Cabinet opened for business in November 2012, Whitworth said.

“The Medicine Cabinet opened up after we sold the stores to CVS,” he said.

After leaving the LaGrange business, Whitworth worked as a retail pharmacist in Manchester before turning to compound pharmacy with CMC in LaGrange. As a compound pharmacist, he worked with making more specified drugs for those who need medicine that is often discontinued.

“There’s a certain segment of the population that have multiple chronic conditions and their medications often don’t mix together,” he said. “The problem with anyone that takes a lot of medications to stabilize their conditions is that it requires extra effort for them to take their medicine, to be compliant, and then have positive outcomes.”

Whitworth will work for the third Medicine Cabinet store opening at Lee’s Crossing. Owner Randy Meeks said the company is excited to have him.

“He seems like a great fit for us, we’ve been looking to get him back into retail pharmacy,” Meeks said.

Whitworth enjoys the community aspect of retail pharmacy, something he looks forward to with his new job.

“Hometown pharmacy is different than a big box or super discount store in that they are primarily locally owned and locally operated, and the barriers to patient communication are less, the pharmacists and the people are more embedded in each other’s lives,” he said.

Customer focus and experience is what made the company want to hire Whitworth, Meeks said.

“He has a lot of experience,” Meeks said.

“He is very customer focused, which is what this company is about, we want them to be treated well and he has a reputation of that.”

Whitworth will also continue working as an oncology infusion pharmacist at the Emory Clark-Holder Clinic along with his position at the new Medicine Cabinet.

“Having grown up here and lived here, and knowing people in their lives, I’ve become a part of their life, they’ve become a part of my life. It feels like I can go back to enjoying the pharmacy practice that I love to do,” Whitworth said.