Seip Drug Store to remain open in Frazee
News | Published on April 28, 2026 at 3:17pm EDT | Author: frazeevergas
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
A lack of qualified pharmacists is forcing the closure of three area pharmacies in the region.
Seip Drug Store will be closing its doors in Henning, Bertha and New York Mills on Friday, May 8 after owner Nathan Seip said he was unable to hire enough pharmacists to keep the rural pharmacies open. The Seip Drug Store in Frazee will remain open.
“It’s caused by no pharmacists. I am unable to staff the places,” said Seip. “I’ve always been able to find pharmacists in the past, but I can’t find them anymore.”
Recently, a lack of staffing has resulted in reduced hours at some of the Seip Drug Store’s as staff members cover the needs of the communities and residents. While the pharmacies will close, Seip is hopeful to potentially reopen the businesses if he can find additional pharmacists to cover the communities, or if he can be approved for a telepharmacy. A telepharmacy is similar to the pharmacy Seip Drug Store has in Ottertail where a pharmacist will work with a pharmacy tech through a video conference program to ensure the proper prescription is counted out and given to each customer. That way a pharmacist can serve multiple locations at the same time, which can fill a need in rural regions across the state.
Seip cautioned the process of getting a telepharmacy approved is lengthy and there are no guarantees his applications would be approved. However, the longtime community pharmacy owner said he wanted to try to get a telepharmacy operational so local residents can continue to have easy access to prescriptions they need to survive in their own backyard.
“It’s a process and it is not easy to get, but I want to try,” he said.
In the meantime, Seip said anyone who is interested in working as a pharmacist at one of his Seip Drug locations should reach out to him as he continues to try to serve residents throughout the rural Minnesota and North Dakota areas.
Seip Drug Store locations in Battle Lake, Frazee, Park Rapids, Fargo, Clarissa, Morris and the telepharmacy in Ottertail will all remain open as long as enough pharmacists remain in those locations as well.