After graduating from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in 1954, Justo “Bill” Noriega worked hard to open his pharmacy. In 1956, Bill’s Prescription Center opened to meet the pharmaceutical needs of the patients in the greater Brandon area. In those early years prescriptions were paid for with chickens, eggs, or bushels of peppers. While those are not the typical way prescriptions are paid for now, the sentiment behind that practice stays consistent: help people.

Bill Noriega opened the doors to his pharmacy with the same attitude every day. He was more motivated by how many people he could help than by how much money he could make. He passed this attitude onto his son John Noriega, who graduated from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy in 1981 and started as a pharmacist later that year. Bill’s daughter Mary then joined the store in 1990 as a pharmacist and began to expand the store's compounding practices to include bioidentical hormone therapy.

In 1998, a fire burned down the Bill’s Prescription Center building, but the community continued to support the pharmacy. The store worked out of a trailer for several years before moving into our current building in 2000. Sadly in 2006, Justo “Bill” Noriega passed away. His son, John, and daughter, Mary still ran the store and helped the community after his death.

John operates Bill’s Prescription Center with his son Basil, who started as a pharmacist in 2015 after graduating from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. While a lot in the world has changed since 1956, the attitude of Bill’s Prescription Center stays the same, to help people and treat them like they are a part of our own family.