CHARLOTTE, N.C.  – New Jersey pharmacy owner Anthony Minniti has received this year’s NARD Ownership Award from the National Community Pharmacists Association Foundation as part of NCPA’s Annual Convention, which was held Oct. 9-12, in Charlotte, N.C.

The NARD Ownership Award recognizes an independent community pharmacist who embraces entrepreneurial spirit through promotion and demonstrated excellence in the field of community pharmacy ownership. NARD, or the National Association of Retail Druggists, was for a century the name associated with independent pharmacy. The organization was founded in 1898, and now as NCPA, represents the nation’s community pharmacists.

Minniti’s career path began in 1984 at age 14 when he went to work with his grandfather, Bernardo Doganiero, at his pharmacy in Camden, N.J. Minniti developed a passion for pharmacy as well as the city of Camden. He graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy & Science (his grandfather’s alma mater) in 1993 and became a partner in his grandfather’s business. In 1997, the family purchased Bell Pharmacy, the oldest pharmacy in the city of Camden. Today, Minniti owns Bell Pharmacy with his sister and pharmacist, Marian Morton. Bell is currently celebrating its 90th year in business.

Minniti is known for having a close relationship with the community and an innovative approach to the business of pharmacy. He has positioned Bell Pharmacy as a community health care hub that facilitates access to care. To ease medical transportation issues Minniti purchased a non-emergency medical transport company and integrated it into Bell Pharmacy’s service offerings. He partnered with community organization Parkside Business and Community in Partnership to develop a COVID-19 vaccination program tailored to his community, focusing on vaccine education and hesitancy issues.

Minniti also collaborated with Camden Area Health Education Center to establish a first-of-its-kind pharmacy-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) clinic with the goal of allowing streamlined access for at-risk patients. It is the centerpiece of Bell Pharmacy’s LGBTQ concierge services program. The clinic was recognized by the New Jersey Department of Health as a model in the state’s efforts to end HIV by 2025 and was the recipient of the Community Pharmacy Innovation in Quality Award by the Pharmacy Quality Alliance. Minniti was an early advocate of pharmacists providing naloxone (Narcan) as a prophylactic and co-prescribing it with narcotic prescriptions. This practice has been formally adopted statewide in New Jersey. He has also been working to establish a pharmacy-based cannabis dispensary. As part of that effort, Minniti supported legislation creating a program to identify pharmacies for dispensary licenses.

He extends community engagement beyond the pharmacy, serving as a volunteer board member of the Camden Schools Foundation and sponsoring scholarships for Camden students. Minniti is a retired elected official (a 16-year Township Committee member with four one-year terms as mayor) and understands the importance of political involvement. He is a member of the Independent Pharmacy Alliance Governmental Affairs Board and currently serves as president of IPA-NJRxPAC, which supports candidates who advocate for issues important to independent community pharmacists.

Minniti believes in bringing community pharmacy back to its roots as a primary health resource and works to highlight the critical importance of independent community pharmacies in improving health outcomes. His commitment to the advancement of the profession was recognized by the New Jersey Pharmacists Association as the recipient of the 2021 National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations Award, given to a practicing NJPhA member and pharmacist within New Jersey who has demonstrated innovative pharmacy practice resulting in improved patient care. He was also named the NJPhA 2021 Independent Pharmacist of the Year, an award presented to a practicing pharmacist who has demonstrated exemplary service to his/her patients and the community.