In the Pennsylvania city of Pittsburgh, patients will finally have access to medical cannabis. Solevo Wellness has passed its final inspection by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Patients will now know it as the city’s first-ever medical marijuana dispensary.
Solevo Wellness
When its doors open to the public, Solevo Wellness will be the fourth operating medical marijuana dispensary in Pennsylvania. To celebrate this triumph, Solevo hosted an Open House on February 7th. Over 100 guests were in attendance, including the State Senator Jay Costa, Aids from Representative Dan Frankel and Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Conor.
Also in attendance was a representative of the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where the dispensary is located. Marian Lien, the CEO of the Squirrel Hill Urban Collective, expressed delight that Solevo Wellness has found a home in the neighborhood.
One of the reasons that the Squirrel Hill community strongly supports the opening of Solevo Wellness’ dispensary is that the company has renovated a building that has been vacant for over a decade. Experts also predict that the new medical marijuana dispensary, located on a major intersection, will revitalize the area.
A Long, Hard Journey
Solevo Wellness
The process of establishing, licensing and opening Solevo Wellness took 18 months. The company credits much of their success in obtaining the proper permits to their hired industry consultant, Sara Gullickson. She’s the President of Arizona Dispensary Permits. They were also aided by the law firm Buchanon, Ingersoll & Rooney.
Solevo COO Samuel Britz said, “it has been a long, hard journey to get to this point. It took huge efforts by many people in the Solevo Organization.”
He continued, “it started nearly 18 months prior, by retired county executive James Roddey and Nicky Geanopulos, Pittsburgh Insider and owner of the Nicky’s Grant St Restaurant.”
Britz also places credit within the Executive Committee formed by the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Robert Capretto. Britz has said that he believes that Chairman Capretto’s decision to form the committee, as well as their tireless work, was a key factor in Solevo’s success. The other committee members included Medical Executives Lucy Cichon and Kathi Lenart, Attorney Lou Gold and pharmacist Alex Mickalow.
Final Hit:
Solevo Wellness has proven time and time again that they are committed to providing their clients with the best possible team. From a pool of over 900 applications, they hired industry veteran Rocco Levine to manage their dispensary. They also hosted an event featuring Cannabis Pharmacy author Michael Backes that over 60 medical professionals attended. And on February 10th, they will host a seminar conducted by faculty of the University of Sciences.
There will soon be a total of five dispensaries in the city of Pittsburgh. Solevo Wellness predicts that their head start, in addition to their team of industry leaders, will prove advantageous when the other dispensaries open.
