Maria Lopez didn’t just want to own a pharmacy – she wanted to redefine what one could be. As a first-generation college graduate and student-athlete, she knew the value of determination. With a passion for chemistry and patient care, she pursued her PharmD despite moments of doubt. “I considered dropping out when I realized many pharmacies operate like assembly lines,” she says. “I wanted to create something different, something more personal.” That vision led her to establish Mission Wellness Pharmacy, the first accredited specialty pharmacy in San Francisco.
From Local Impact to National Change
For nearly two decades, Lopez has innovated clinical services in her Mission District
business, creating models now used nationwide. Hers was the first independent
pharmacy in the U.S. to provide hepatitis C testing and one of the first to obtain
treatments – delivering medications to patients in homeless shelters and under bridges.
Mission Wellness Pharmacy was also the first in the state to offer on-site testing for HIV
and other sexually transmitted infections. Lopez’s pioneering practices led to legislation
enabling pharmacists to prescribe HIV prevention drugs, a policy since adopted in more
than half the states. These early firsts laid the groundwork for her responses during the
COVID-19 pandemic, including setting up the nation’s first pediatric vaccination clinics
and training pharmacists nationwide in COVID-19 pediatric vaccination protocols.
Strength, Service, and Heart
Building a thriving community pharmacy hasn’t come without challenges. “For women
entrepreneurs, and even more so for Latinas and other women of color, doors close
constantly. But resilience means learning that if one door closes, another is meant to
open,” she says. Her grit and compassion have served her and her patients well. “The
pharmacy is their extended family. They trust us to explain their medications in a
language they understand. They are not just a number.”
