HealthKeeperz in the News

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Pembroke Honors Brooks for Providing the Right Rx

By Roxana Ross - Staff writer

PEMBROKE - Howard Brooks knows the Rx for success - a dose of compassion mixed with a dollop of resourcefulness.

That has been the successful formula for the business he started, Pembroke Drug Center, which celebrated its 40th anniversary Saturday.

More than 200 showed up to honor Brooks and the business - now known as Healthkeeperz - he has grown during a birthday celebration at Foxglove Place, where the pharmacy is now located. Festivities included live entertainment and free hot-dogs, cotton candy and popcorn. Children played in an inflatable bounce room and adults received free health checks.

Healthkeeperz Pharmacy began as a small downtown drug store with about three employees and has blossomed into a health care powerhouse with about 550 employees and a presence in 10 counties. It provides home medical equipment and respiratory services, home health services and nursing services.

Members of Town Council, the county Board of Commissioners, the Pembroke Chamber of Commerce and the Lumbee tribe all took turns lauding that success.

“He's always been a person you could call on for help when help was needed,” said Mayor Milton Hunt, who presented the 65-year-old county native with the key to the city and read a proclamation declaring Saturday as Healthkeeperz Day in Pembroke.

Hunt and others mentioned Brooks' character and strong work ethic, as well as his reputation for helping customers get the care they needed.

“Many people would have gone without medicine, but because they were dealing with Howard, they didn't,” said R.D. Locklear from the Pembroke Chamber of Commerce.

Eighty-year-old Adryaner Lowery knows what Locklear was talking about. She said many farming families, like her own, were able to buy medicine on credits until the crops came in. A customer since the pharmacy opened in 1967, she said the business has always put customers first.

“He's always been good to help people,” Lowery said. “When you'd sell tobacco or cotton, then you'd pay for it. We just didn't have the money and he helped.”

County Commissioner Noah Woods has known Brooks since the two attended high school together. He said there's “something special” about his friend and his success.

“There's been a lot of successful businesses in Pembroke, but his seemed a little more personal to customers,” Woods said.

Woods said Brooks overcame much and worked hard to reach his success.

“This is a young man who lost his mother at an early age and his sister took him in,” Woods said. “... They say when life hands you lemons make lemonade, and that's what he's done. It's not something you see every day. Nothing was handed down to Howard Brooks with Healthkeeperz. What he has and his family has, they earned the old-fashioned way, hard work.”

Brooks said the accolades meant a lot to him.

“Pembroke and its communities are the only land I know,” Brooks said. “I went to local schools. The only job I've ever had was here in Pembroke. This means a lot from that standpoint.”

Brooks also took a moment to thank God for his success, and said he prayed every day for his employees and their patients.

“He just blesses me and blesses us so much,” Brooks said. “It is our hope that in some measure we will handle that stewardship.”

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

HealthKeeperz’ gift to aid nursing program at UNCP

HealthKeeperz, a regional, comprehensive home healthcare provider headquartered in Pembroke, N.C., announced a gift of $250,000 to endow a distinguished professorship in the Nursing Department at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Click here for the full story

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