CONRAD — The small-town pharmacy that eventually launched a chain spanning 30 locations across four states closed its doors for the final time on Tuesday amidst an uncertain future for its parent company.

News that NuCara Pharmacy would be shuttering four locations in central Iowa — Conrad, Traer, Ackley and Zearing — became public last week through social media posts, and on Friday, March 27, NuCara Management Group Marketing Director Melanie Kirkpatrick sent the newspaper a statement regarding the closures, along with the disclaimer that the company would “not be issuing any other comments at this time.”

“At NuCara, our priority has always been serving our communities,” the statement began. “Unfortunately, we are seeing more prescriptions reimbursed below our cost to dispense, driven by current PBM [pharmacy benefit manager] models that set reimbursement rates. This has led to many pharmacy closures throughout the country. Additionally, gaps in Iowa’s rural healthcare strategy have created an unsustainable environment for some rural pharmacies, leading to the difficult decision to close these locations. We continue to endeavor to keep the majority of our pharmacies operating in the local communities while evaluating strategic alternatives.”

The Conrad closure is especially noteworthy as NuCara Founder and President TJ Johnsrud opened the original location there in 1973 and has remained actively involved in the community, where he continues to reside, ever since. An attempt to reach Johnsrud for further comment had been unsuccessful at presstime.

The Traer and Story City locations came shortly after Conrad, and the company’s holdings eventually grew to 30 pharmacies and 11 home medical stores in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and Texas. The “original three” celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2023

NuCara has also kept its corporate headquarters in Conrad at 126 N. Main St. A sign on the door at the Conrad and Traer pharmacies indicated that all prescriptions handled there would be transferred to the Marshalltown location at 421 E. Merle Hibbs Blvd. inside the McFarland Clinic.

During a phone interview last week, Conrad Mayor Jeff Martin told the T-R he didn’t know anything more than what had been put out in the media regarding the NuCara situation, but he was “very disappointed” to hear news of the closure.

“We’ve been spoiled all these years to have a pharmacy right here in Conrad, to know these people so well and work with them. It’s disappointing that they’re going to be closing,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate that it’s happening for whatever reason. I know the rumors and I know what I’ve read online, but I don’t know any facts so I’m not going to repeat them.”

He added that he hadn’t heard anything official about the status of the corporate office amidst reports that the company is being bought out. The announcement comes on the heels of news that Hometown Foods in Conrad is closing permanently, and Martin said he and other community leaders have “some work to do” attracting new businesses to take their place.

“We need to get together as a group and talk about what we can do going forward. We’re still fortunate that Dollar General’s here, so we do have services for the citizens. It’s not the pharmacy, but you can get over the counter medication and you can get basic grocery items, so people can be taken care of,” he said. “But we definitely want to get something in those buildings. We don’t want them to be empty, and in reality, it’d be great to get another pharmacy. There’s some pharmacies around that are in small towns that maybe we could attract. I don’t know… I’m not going to look at it as a negative. It’s more of an opportunity.”

On Friday morning, NuCara’s Conrad location issued a statement on its Facebook page regarding the closure.

“As we reflect on the relationships built, the trust shared, and the role we’ve been honored to play in this community for generations, closing this pharmacy is incredibly emotional for all of us,” it read. “Thank you for being part of our story.”

Traer closure

Traer’s NuCara Pharmacy is located at 500 2nd St., and the building has long been owned by Judy Holst and her now-late husband Kent Holst. The newspaper reached out to Judy’s daughter, Traer Mayor Pro Tem Carri Holst, for comment last Wednesday regarding the closure, which comes on the heels of Traer’s medical clinic, formerly MercyOne Traer Family Medicine, shuttering this past December.

“Local pharmacy level staff and community leaders were not aware of any potential changes to NuCara’s position in Traer (and other local communities) until the announcement late Tuesday afternoon, March 24,” Carri said in an email. “Small town pharmacies are highly valued, but hard to sustain in today’s market. As soon as news of the closing was received, community leaders from North Tama Medical Associates, Traer Development Corporation, and the City of Traer got to work immediately to research other pharmacy options. We believe having a local pharmacy is a very important service for our community and Tama County residents, and will work diligently to secure pharmacy services.”

North Tama Medical Associates owns the medical clinic located diagonal to NuCara at 200 Walnut St. The non-profit’s board of directors successfully recruited Waterloo-based Peoples Community Health Clinic to reopen in the space with a grand opening planned for mid-April. Peoples Clinic currently operates an onsite pharmacy in Waterloo, while also offering pharmaceutical services through a pharmacy technician at its Clarksville satellite clinic, according to Peoples Clinic marketing specialist Libby Mann who also told the newspaper, “Our team has been examining different solutions in response to the NuCara Pharmacy closure, although no solution has been decided thus far.”

$22M lawsuit

According to recent reporting by Clark Kauffman with Iowa Capital Dispatch, NuDak Ventures, the limited liability corporation (LLC) that does business as NuCara Specialty Pharmacy, is being sued by the State of Iowa for allegedly spending $22 million owed to the state for an HIV treatment program.

“In its lawsuit, the State of Iowa alleges the company has repeatedly failed to make millions in monthly payments due to the state under a contract with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services,” Kauffman reported on March 16. “The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, states that until recently NuCara was a state-contracted pharmacy, providing pharmacy services related to sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis control, immunization, and substance abuse treatment since 1998.”

As part of NuCara’s contract with the State of Iowa, it was required to order “outpatient medications purchased by DHHS at discounted prices. Under the terms of that deal, NuCara was responsible for paying DHHS the program ‘profit’ that was generated each month. … On March 6, 2026, the state terminated its contract with NuCara, alleging that between October 2024 and January 2026 the company had repeatedly failed to make all of the required monthly payments.”

Kauffman further reported that NuCara is allegedly eight months in arrears and owes in total more than $22 million to the state.

“NuCara is also alleged to have improperly spent the state’s program income to pay off other creditors in violation of the contract and state and federal laws, and the state claims the company ‘no longer has, and is unable to return,’ the state’s lost revenue,” Kauffman wrote.

Kauffman also reported that NuCara was pursuing a corporate acquisition by OneroRX. According to OneroRX’s website, the West Des Moines-based company was founded by John Pappajohn and began operating pharmacies in May 2021. A ticker running along the bottom of OneroRX’s landing page indicates Medicap Pharmacy is one of its acquisitions.

Per Kauffman, “The state alleges that OneroRX does not intend to accept NuCara’s liabilities as part of any proposed corporate acquisition. ‘Even if NuCara is acquired by OneroRX, the proceeds from the sale and collection on any pending invoices will not be sufficient to repay the program income’ the state is due, the lawsuit claims.”

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.