Bellevue’s Lakemont community has its first pharmacy ever.

Lakemont Pharmacy is located in Lakemont Village shopping center at 4935 Lakemont Blvd. S.E., near Matthew’s Thriftway supermarket and next to Edward Jones. It is owned by Dr. Nongnuch “Ae” Wongkaew, Ph.D., RPh.

In addition to prescription and non-prescription medications, and health related products, Lakemont Pharmacy offers immunization and free blood pressure screening. It also is participating in the national Dispose My Meds program, which helps people safely dispose of unused or expired medicines that may be dangerous to others and to the environment.

Prior to establishing her own practice at Lakemont Pharmacy, Wongkaew, a Bellevue resident, managed a 24-hour chain store pharmacy in Bellevue and opened a second pharmacy for the same chain in Bellevue.

“Being an independent pharmacy gives us more flexibility to tailor our products and services to respond to the needs of our local customers,” said Wongkaew. “As an independent pharmacy, we pride ourselves on superlative customer service. We offer face to face consultations that can make a world of difference in health outcomes by promoting patient adherence to their medication. For homebound customers, we also deliver medications to their homes.”

However, Wongkaew noted that being an independent pharmacy is not without a challenge.

“Many Americans assume that big, chain store companies use their buying power to get lower prices and pass all those saving to customers. But is it always true?” he asked.

Prescription drug coverage accounts for nearly 90 percent of all prescriptions, Wongkaew said, adding that “most patients pay the same co-pay regardless of the pharmacy.”

The community of Lakemont has about 10,000 residents.