Mercer University College of Pharmacy alumna Dr. Nikki Adams Bryant recognized a need for health care services in her hometown and has dedicated her career to filling those gaps. Bryant owns pharmacies in Preston and Cuthbert, as well as a family medicine clinic.
Dr. Bryant chose to follow in the footsteps of the late Bob Snipes, the pharmacist she grew up with in Richland and a 1975 Mercer College of Pharmacy alumnus. After graduating from Mercer in 2003, she returned to Richland to be a pharmacist in the county’s only hospital for a few years, followed by several years at the CVS in Albany and several more years at a new Walgreens in Americus.
Having grown weary of the demands and restrictions of chain drug stores, Dr. Bryant decided it was time to open her own pharmacy in Preston, where she had lived since 2008. One of her biggest drivers was witnessing the father of a childhood friend struggle to pay for prescriptions after his cancer diagnosis.
“That motivated me to open my own pharmacy where I would have the liberty to help people who couldn’t afford things,” Dr. Bryant said.
Preston, a rural town in Webster County with a population of 400, hadn’t had a pharmacy in 60 years. Dr. Bryant built onto her father Terry Adams’s grocery store, Adams Food Center, and opened Adams Family Pharmacy in that 900-square-foot space in 2014. Dr. Bryant realized quickly that, with such a small city population, she would need to add other services to keep her business sustainable. So, she began delivering prescriptions, which makes up about 85% of her business.
Dr. Bryant said many of the area’s elderly residents don’t have family nearby, and the delivery service fills a much-needed niche. With a 50-mile delivery radius, staff drop off prescriptions to remote locations in Webster, Stewart, Sumter, Schley, Marion, Chattahoochee, Randolph and Terrell counties.
In 2018, Dr. Bryant opened Preston Family Medicine so that patients of all ages could have access to closer primary care. The clinic, located next door to Adams Food Center, has a full-time nurse practitioner who offers home visits to people who can’t travel.
“It’s a very nice way for the pharmacy and the doctor’s office to work together. We do a lot of collaboration of care,” Dr. Bryant said.
That same year, Dr. Bryant started a nonprofit called the Stewart Webster Cancer Fund, which provides financial assistance to people diagnosed with cancer in Stewart or Webster counties. The organization has purchased gas vouchers, groceries and wigs for patients; bought flowers for family members after a death; and helped with funeral expenses.
Identifying an additional need, Dr. Bryant partnered with a longtime friend and third-generation business owner to open an Adams Family Pharmacy location in Cuthbert in Randolph County in 2019. The store also offers prescription delivery, and it acquired 831 new patients this year when the city’s CVS closed.
Dr. Bryant said independent pharmacies often have to rely on other revenue streams to survive, since they receive less in prescription reimbursements from pharmacy benefit managers – which administer prescription drug insurance benefits – than corporate pharmacies do. To help keep her pharmacies open, Dr. Bryant added a coffee shop, bakery and soda fountain to her Cuthbert location in 2022. She arrives at 6 a.m. every day to make homemade biscuits and other baked goods.
“For rural communities, there are so many that the pharmacy is the hub of health care,” Dr. Bryant said. “To even think about that being extinguished, it’s daunting for me. It makes me emotional to think of all the care these rural communities would lose if the local pharmacies closed. Everyone should be fighting for independent pharmacies to remain viable.”
Dr. Bryant’s business and community ventures add up to a lot of work, but the gratitude from her patients and community keep her going.
“They’re always so grateful. It’s a lot of sacrifice. It’s a lot of stress. It’s a lot of financial burden to carry, but I think it’s most rewarding when someone tells me, ‘Thanks so much for what you do for me,’” she said.
Dr. Bryant said she is fortunate to be supported by a dedicated and passionate staff, who range in age from 16 to 75. That includes her sister, Missi Adams, a pharmacy technician and baker; a team of delivery drivers; a nurse practitioner; and two full-time pharmacists at each pharmacy location. One of the pharmacists, Laine Frazier, is a 2024 Mercer College of Pharmacy graduate who has worked for Dr. Bryant since she was 16 years old; and another, Colton Satterfield, graduated from the College of Pharmacy in 2020.
“Legacy is what makes people want to come to Mercer – the people they know who graduated there who inspire them to be a better person,” Dr. Bryant said. “I went there because of Mr. Bob (Snipes), and then Laine went there because I went there. It’s really important for Mercer to be successful that those relationships and legacies continue.”
Dr. Nikki Adams Bryant is among the Mercerians featured in Mercer Illustrated: The Places, People, and Experiences of a Uniquely Impactful University. This coffee table book from Mercer University Press can be ordered online. Mercer faculty, staff and students can receive a 40% discount when they order by phone at (478) 301-2880.
