Caring for Community Families Since 1971
A healthier, safer you. Sound good? We think so, too. Since 1971, CarePro Health Services’ mission has been to provide you with the services and products you and your family need for a happier, healthier life. Your experience and results are important to us, and helping you is what motivates us every day. We want to be your go-to resource for home medical equipment, home infusion, home health and compounding services.
Our History
CarePro Health Services has grown and changed over the years in order to serve all of your needs in a way that’s beneficial for you. We’re excited about growing our family to help better serve yours. See how the CarePro you know today has developed over the years to help you and your family.
The 1970s
1971 – Ray Buser, RPh, buys Claxton Pharmacy and founds C.R. Pharmacy Service, Inc.
1973 – Fifth Avenue Pharmacy opens as a full-service community pharmacy and later develops compounding, medical supply (ostomy) and equipment, and nursing home pharmacy.
The 1980s
1980 – Shutts Pharmacy is purchased and renamed Shepley Pharmacy. It operates as a full-service community pharmacy.
1984 – C.R. IV Service, Inc. begins as Claxton's Home IV Service, providing alternate-site infusion therapy services, supplies and nursing.
1986 – Claxton's Home IV Service joins the national network of Option Care offices, changing its name to Claxton's Option Care.
1989 – Liberty Pharmacy in North Liberty opens as a full-service community pharmacy.
The 1980s
1990 – Company purchases Paramount Pharmacies.
1991 – Claxton Pharmacy conducts one of the first national studies on a new concept in pharmacy known as Pharmaceutical Care - providing patient-centered pharmacy services.
1992 – Claxton's Option Care expands into Central Iowa, relocates to 402 10th Street SE and undergoes another name change, becoming Option Care of East & Central Iowa.
1992 – Nursing home pharmacy business consolidates to form Pharmacy Care Associates and locates next to Claxton Pharmacy.
1997 – Paramount Pharmacy East and Claxton Pharmacy merge to form CarePro Pharmacy - A Avenue
Fifth Avenue Medical separates from Fifth Avenue Pharmacy and relocates to its current location.
1998 – CarePro Pharmacy Tipton is purchased and operates as a full-service community pharmacy.
Option Home Health opens, providing Medicare and Medicaid-certified home care services and private duty nursing services.
The name CarePro Health Services is adopted to build a stronger one-company identity. It still consists of two corporations: C.R. Pharmacy Service, Inc. and C.R. IV Service, Inc.
This same year, Liberty Pharmacy and Shepley Pharmacy collaborate to form, along with the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, the first accredited multi-site community care residency in the country.
1999 – Pharmacy Care Associates, a pharmacy providing services to 1,700 nursing home beds in Eastern Iowa, is sold to Omnicare.
The 2000s
2000 – CarePro Advance Health opens, providing natural health consultative services, preventive screenings, vitamin and herbal supplements, natural skin care products, organic and specialty foods.
2003 – Worksite Wellness is developed as one of the early programs in the country offering pharmacist directed corporate wellness.
2004 – Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Ownership of CarePro Health Services is transitioned to its eligible employees.
2006 – Fifth Avenue Medical and the five retail pharmacies become accredited to provide durable medical equipment. The pharmacies were among the very earliest pharmacies to be accredited in Iowa.
2007 – Fifth Avenue Medical changes its name to CarePro Home Medical.
2008 – CarePro Home Infusion remodeled to provide a state-of-the-art facility for preparing specialized forms of medications including a new space for CarePro Compounding.
CarePro Home Medical opens a Coralville location.
The 2010s
2011 – Liberty Pharmacy was remodeled and expanded.
2013 – Fifth Avenue Pharmacy relocated to the PCI Medical Pavilion and was renamed CarePro at the Pavilion. Added home medical equipment.
2014 – CarePro acquired Kelly’s Medical Equipment and Supply. There were six locations: Clinton, Geneseo, Kewanee (closed 2014), Moline & Davenport-Kimberly Road & 54th Street (closed 2015). The businesses were renamed to Kelly’s Home Medical.
2015 – Advance Health vitamins & supplements and consultative services were merged into CarePro Pharmacy – Pavilion.
2016 – CarePro Home Care discontinued providing some nursing services based on insurance coverage.
2018 - CarePro Pharmacy locations were sold. This included: CarePro Pharmacy - A Avenue, CarePro Pharmacy - Mount Vernon, CarePro Pharmacy - North Liberty, CarePro Pharmacy - Pavilion & CarePro Pharmacy - Tipton.
2018 - CarePro Senior Transition Services was added
Questions? We’d love to talk with you! Learn more about our services, contact us, or visit your neighborhood CarePro Health Services location to get the solutions you need to manage your family’s health and wellness.
Employee Stock Ownership Plan
CarePro Health Services cares about their employees as much as they care about their customers. CarePro knows that employees who feel empowered and invested in the future of their company give more of themselves and strive to serve their patients and customers better. It’s that philosophy that led to CarePro Health Services to become an Employee Stock Ownership Plan/ESOP company.
CarePro Health Services became 100% employee-owned on January 14, 2004. The purpose of the plan is to enable employees to participate in the growth and prosperity of the company, and also to provide additional income for the retirement for our employees.
What is Employee Ownership?
As an employee-owned company, CarePro participates in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). As explained by SES Advisors, “An ESOP is a retirement plan designed to provide employees with an ownership interest in the company... The ESOP is funded with tax-deductible contributions by the employer, which can be in the form of company stock, or cash which is used to purchase company stock. An ESOP operates through a trust, under the direction of a trustee or other named fiduciary.”
The employees, supervisors and managers of an ESOP company are employee-owners. As ESOP members, CarePro employee owners receive company stocks, which are managed by a trust. The stocks are not available for public trade; they exist exclusively to benefit our employee-owners. Unlike a 401(k), CarePro employee owners do not pay their own money into this retirement account. CarePro deposits shares into employees’ individual accounts based on their annual stock value.
How Employee Ownership Benefits YOU
Every one of our employees affects our bottom line, which means that they affect our stock value, too. That’s why we pride ourselves on providing the best customer service experience for you. Our employee-owners go above and beyond to make sure you are happy with CarePro’s products and services.
Owners Guiding Owners
CarePro has an ESOP Advisory Committee (EAC), a group of dedicated employee-owners from every division of CarePro who meet monthly to devise educational programs and events to spread the word about ESOP to their fellow owners. The committee is responsible for fielding ESOP questions, planning CarePro’s annual Employee Owner Event (a roundtable with our Board of Directors) and offering fun, educational events throughout the year. The month of October is employee ownership month, and the EAC plans many activities at this time to recognize employee ownership and encourage employee owners to celebrate.
For more information on what it means to be an ESOP, visit The ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership. For any questions about CarePro's products and services, reach out to us.