Arkansas Business

Cheryl Bryant

Since graduating from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences School of Pharmacy in 2004, Cheryl Bryant has been making a difference in the lives of patients in Arkansas and even farther south in Honduras.

As a district pharmacy manager for Walgreens, Bryant oversees most of the company’s pharmacies in Arkansas, except those in West Memphis and northwest Arkansas, which means a lot of travel visiting about three stores a day with the goal of improving performance and providing better outcomes for patients.

Bryant said what she loves about her job is seeing patients improve, and as district manager, she is able to make a bigger difference and help Arkansas catch up with innovations in pharmacy.

“I get to help my pharmacists, and that way I have more impact on how I can help,” she said.

Her commitment to improving the lives of patients extends beyond her work with Walgreens. Once a month Bryant volunteers at the Westside Free Clinic, where she dispenses medication and counsels patients, and in 2010 she took a monthlong mission trip to Honduras, where she ran the Los Leones clinic.

In Honduras, she said, she helped about 150 patients a day, most of whom traveled to the clinic from far-away villages. She didn’t always have access to the medications they needed, so she had to be resourceful and make do with what was available, but the people were always grateful.

In 2011, Bryant was named young pharmacist of the year by the Arkansas Pharmacists Association.