When most people picture a pharmacy, they picture a counter, a line, and a bag of prescriptions. Kevin Oberlander, RPh has spent decades building something very different.
His vision for what a pharmacy could be is embodied in a concept he calls the hybrid pharmacy model — an approach to healthcare that brings together independent pharmacy, compounding, and a multidisciplinary team of clinical practitioners under one roof, working collaboratively around each patient’s individual needs.
The result is Dakota Natural Health Center, and it may be unlike any healthcare setting you’ve encountered before.
What a Hybrid Pharmacy Actually Means
The term “hybrid” is important. This isn’t a pharmacy that simply has a few wellness products on the shelf next to the prescription counter. It’s a fully integrated model where the pharmacy and the clinical practice are designed to work together — sharing patients, sharing information, and sharing the goal of finding the best possible outcome for each individual.
At Dakota Natural Health Center, that team currently includes a chiropractor, a nurse with a specialized skincare practice, a naturopathic doctor, a nurse practitioner, and an occupational therapist whose focus is behavioral health. Each of these practitioners operates their own private practice, and each brings a distinct set of skills and perspectives to the table.
But what makes the model work is the collaboration.
The Power of Collaborative Care
In a traditional healthcare model, a patient might see their primary care physician, get a referral to a specialist, and pick up a prescription at a pharmacy — with no direct communication between any of those parties. The pieces of their care exist in separate silos, and the patient is often left to bridge the gaps themselves.
In the hybrid pharmacy model, that changes. Practitioners at Dakota Natural Health Center actively refer patients to one another. They consult on complex cases. And they collaborate with the pharmacy team at Dakota Pharmacy and Dakota PrecisionRx Labs to ensure that the medications and compounded preparations a patient receives are aligned with the full picture of their care.
That kind of coordination can be genuinely transformative for patients managing chronic conditions, hormonal health, pain, or complex medication regimens. When the pharmacist is part of the care team, not just the last stop before you go home, the level of precision in your treatment improves.
The Three Pillars
Kevin’s vision for this model rests on three interconnected pieces:
Dakota Pharmacy handles traditional pharmacy services — dispensing, counseling, immunizations, and the full range of clinical services that an independent community pharmacy provides. Additionally, we’ve sought out researched, quality supplemental options to support your healthcare goals. Patients love our Dakota Serenity Nutrition products because they can feel confident in their third party tested quality.
Dakota PrecisionRx Labs is the compounding arm of the practice, preparing individualized medications for patients whose needs can’t be met by commercially available options. This spans human patients across a wide range of therapeutic areas — as well as veterinary patients.
Dakota Natural Health Center brings the clinical practitioners together — a team that thinks holistically, collaborates freely, and works in concert with the pharmacy to design care around the individual rather than fitting the individual into a standard protocol.
Together, these three create a healthcare setting that truly has no parallel in our region.
Why This Matters for You as a Patient
If you have ever felt like your healthcare providers don’t talk to each other, you’re not imagining it — and you’re not alone. The fragmentation of modern healthcare is one of the most common frustrations patients express.
The hybrid pharmacy model is a direct response to that problem. It’s built on the premise that the best outcomes happen when practitioners collaborate, when the pharmacist is a full member of the care team, and when care is designed around the specific person in front of you — not a standard treatment pathway.
If that sounds like the kind of care you’ve been looking for, we’d encourage you to come in and see what we’ve built.
Dakota Natural Health Center is located in Bismarck, ND, as part of the Dakota Pharmacy family of practices. Individual practitioners operate their own private practices within the center.