H-E-B’s Lehew, Stehling ‘do whatever it takes’

Tom Stehling and Derek Lehew

While pharmacists across the country have forged close relationships with their patients, providing them with top-notch care and a wide array of services, few have gone to such lengths as a pair of pharmacists working for the H-E-B grocery chain in Texas have.

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The two pharmacists — Derek Lehew, the pharmacy manager at H-E-B’s store in Waxahachie, and Tom Stehling, a staff pharmacist at an outlet in San Antonio — have been repeatedly praised for their willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure patients get the best care.



“He is our favorite H-E-B employee because he went over and above the call of duty — a great example of the high standards H-E-B employs,” a pharmacy patient said about how Lehew reacted to her forgetting to pick up a prescription she needed to take prior to having surgery.



“We had been with family celebrating our nephew’s return from Iraq,” the woman said in her letter to the company. “I was scheduled to have surgery first thing the next morning. Two days before, I had turned in a prescription for a medication I was to take before leaving for the hospital. On our way home from the party, I remembered I hadn’t pick it up. We explained our situation to the store manager, but he wasn’t authorized to handle pharmacy matters, but agreed to call Derek at home.”



Lehew, who lives 15 miles away, was spending a quiet evening with his family. But knowing how crucial it was that the patient take her medication prior to her surgery, he jumped in the car and was at the store in about 20 minutes to retrieve the prescription.



H-E-B executives say the letter commending Lehew was one in a long line of praises from customers. Whether it’s coming in after hours or taking the time to thoroughly discuss a child’s diabetes with his or her parents, Lehew’s patients are appreciative of his diligence and the level of caring he shows for their well-being.



“Derek gets frequent great comments from his customers,” SVP pharmacy Craig Norman said. “He really treats everyone as family each and every day.”



Meanwhile, H-E-B customers have cited Stehling for his attention to detail and helping patients get the care they need.



Stehling’s pharmacy manager received a phone call from a patient who told him Stehling had literally saved his life after he told the pharmacist that he was feeling under the weather.



“Tom recommended that one of our screeners do a blood-glucose test,” Norman explained, noting that the screening showed his glucose levels were extremely high. “Tom instructed him to go straight to the emergency room and to receive further care.”



After a week in the hospital, the patient was released and grateful to Stehling for his efforts.



“He wanted to talk to Tom’s supervisor and said he would be happy to tell anyone what Tom did,” Norman said. “He felt Tom went over and above, and that he saved his life.”