Local Business Spotlight: Deseret Wellness

Photo: The Deseret Wellness Team, Carly Adair (Assistant Manager of Operations [Left]), Zach Ellis (Wellness Lead [center]), Thomas Lamb (Pharmacist in Charge [right]) – photo: Cheyene Bilderback

PARK CITY, Utah. — Medical cannabis pharmacy Deseret Wellness aims to improve its patient’s quality of life through education and alternative therapies. With two locations, one on Kearns Boulevard and the other in Provo, the business tailors its service to Utahns.

Deseret Wellness on Kearns Blvd opened in February of 2021. Since it opened, Thomas Lamb has served as the lead pharmacist and pharmacy manager at Deseret Wellness in Park City. He saw an opportunity for alternative healing and pain management and was motivated by personal experience to pursue a medical cannabis pharmacist position.

“I was a pharmacy manager at a traditional community pharmacy for three years prior to this position,” Lamb said. “While there, one of my staff lost a child to the opioid epidemic. Seeing the pain and loss that it caused motivated me to try and find a better way to use my education to fight the epidemic.”

He views medical cannabis as a solution to opioids and other fatally addictive drugs. “I honestly see cannabis as one of the best tools we have to help people not only reduce their opioid use but also to avoid exposure to them from the start,” he states.

The team at Deseret Wellness is acutely aware that cannabis use, particularly in Utah, is ripe with misunderstandings. “One of our greatest challenges is stigma, both from those who view cannabis as ‘evil’ and those who see it as benign and recreational,” Lamb says, “We are all about the proper and safe use of cannabis under the supervision of licensed medical providers.”

Despite some controversy, Lamb and his team dedicate themselves to customizing their pharmacy to Park City and Utah’s needs. “We are a team of experienced Medical Cannabis operators with ties to Utah. From our ownership to our teams in the pharmacies, we are Utahns who are passionate about bringing people alternatives for healing naturally,” Lamb explains.

He adds, “We were very deliberate in building a brand that is specific and unique to Utah, including our name, our locations, our patient experience, and our team. We feel incredibly lucky to be Pioneers of sorts in our own backyard.”

Deseret Wellness is using momentum from the evaluation of the state program to expand education around medical cannabis use. “We have recently had the opportunity to attend more educational events to talk with people about the program,” said Lamb.

The Deseret Wellness team thrives on seeing people’s lives changed for the better.

“The patient feedback has been very rewarding,” Lamb said, “Multiple times, I’ve had patients report feeling better than they have in years. Others have reported eliminating or reducing opioid and alcohol use. Simply seeing it improve the quality of life for our friends feels good.”