Jolie Smith, director of corporate and community partnerships, Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), describes the importance of community-based engagement to assist the 2,200 families who rely on AFAC each week.
Scottsdale, Ariz. – Acknowledging the vital role pharmacy education plays in improving patient care, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation announced $230,000 in scholarships and grants through its 2017 NACDS Foundation Scholarship Program. The recipients were presented with their awards tonight at an NACDS Foundation event during the NACDS Annual Meeting.
This year’s awardees were selected from more than 40 general and diversity scholarship applications submitted from deans of accredited colleges and schools of pharmacy across the country. Six grants were awarded to applicants for innovative education programs in the amount of $20,000 each, including two in the name of industry leaders: The Wayne Roberts Memorial Scholarship, provided by Apotex Corporation, and the Robert J. Bolger Scholarship, provided by Teva. Additionally, two one-time grants in the amount of $15,000 each were awarded for excellence in diversity programs.
The awardees of the 2017 NACDS Foundation Scholarships for excellence in education are:
Awardees of the 2017 NACDS Foundation Scholarships for excellence in diversity programs:
It’s said that an association should reflect its membership, and that is the case when it comes to NACDS’ sustainability initiatives. NACDS was among 231 U.S.-based organizations to receive a 2017 Best Workplaces for Commuters designation this week, which recognizes employers that offer exceptional employer-provided commuter benefits that meet the National Standard of Excellence criteria. To be designated among the nation’s Best Workplaces for Commuters, employers must provide benefits that result in at least 14 percent of their employees no longer driving alone to and from work within a 12-month period. Additionally, this week NACDS Vice President of Human Resources & Administration Dawn Worthington (left) accepted the Arlington County Transportation Gold Champions Award on behalf of NACDS.
The NACDS Foundation hosted a forum this week, “Prescription & OTC Medication Record Integration: A Holistic Patient-Centered Approach.”
The NACDS Foundation hosted a forum this week, “Prescription & OTC Medication Record Integration: A Holistic Patient-Centered Approach,” to explore the potential for advancing patient health and wellness by integrating over-the-counter (OTC) medication use into electronic health records.
The increased use of prescription drugs, wider reliance on self-medication and the rise in the use of OTC medications has led to a higher risk for drug-drug interactions between prescriptions and OTC medications. Prevention strategies focused on especially vulnerable populations who are receiving interacting prescribed drugs—the elderly and chronically ill—could improve patient outcomes.
Representatives from retail pharmacy, pharmacy software system vendors, pharmacy channel partners and other health information technology partners participated in the stakeholder conference, which will culminate in a report that will be widely distributed throughout the stakeholder communities and NACDS communications platforms.
In recognition of antibiotic stewardship programs across the care continuum, the NACDS Foundation will support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) annual one-week observance—Get Smart Week, November 14–20—to raise awareness about the threat of antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic prescribing.
The CDC has made combating antibiotic resistance a top priority and is partnering with public institutions and private industry to overcome this challenge. The agency has created resources for the initiative, including a Get Smart Week toolkit, fact sheets and other resources, a social media campaign and a partner page where stakeholders can share their plans for the week.
The National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria aims to reduce inappropriate outpatient antibiotic use by 50 percent by 2020. The NACDS Foundation is committed to working with the CDC and other stakeholders to partner in addressing this important public health issue.
As the East Coast braces for Hurricane Matthew, NACDS partner Healthcare Ready, a nonprofit that works to protect patient access to healthcare during times of disaster, is monitoring the projection and anticipated impacts of the massive storm.
The group announced that it is preparing to activate Rx Open on October 7—a free, interactive map that shows open and closed pharmacies for both citizens and responders.
Healthcare Ready is coordinating with officials at Federal Emergency Management Agency the Department of Health and Human Services, and in the affected states, to provide assistance. State-specific resources, including guidance on business reentry, can be found on their website. Follow the group on Twitter for updates and, if you become aware of situations that may adversely affect healthcare supply or care in the affected area, or would like to request the assistance of Healthcare Ready, please contact the Healthcare Ready Support Team atalerts@healthcareready.org, or call 1 (866) 247-2694.
A recent study in the journal Vaccine noted that achieving early and rapid vaccination coverage during an influenza pandemic would require better coordinated partnerships between public health agencies and vaccine providers, especially given the vital role pharmacists play in expanding access to pandemic vaccination.
However, little is known about nationwide coordination between public health programs and pharmacies for pandemic vaccine response planning.
In response to this need for better coordination between public health departments and pharmacies to improve pandemic preparedness—and ensure vaccinating pharmacists are fully utilized during a pandemic—NACDS collaborated with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create pandemic response resources.
To encourage early and ongoing participation of pharmacies in pandemic influenza plans, and increase public access to immunization services, the groups prepared aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) template and an Instructional Letter to State Pharmacy Associations, State and Territorial Health Officials, and Pharmacy Providers.
In response to the historic flooding in Louisiana, NACDS member companies—demonstrating the vital role they play in the communities they serve—immediately stepped in to provide assistance for those in need, in collaboration with public health partners and emergency preparedness authorities.
NACDS member companies—demonstrating the vital role they play in the communities they serve—immediately stepped in to provide assistance for those in need…
As of print time, these are the relief efforts NACDS members have been involved in. If your company also participated in these efforts, or has updated information, please send an email to NACDS’ Lisa Boylan so we can report on it in upcoming editions of CEO Issue Update, as this is a long-term relief initiative and we want to accurately reflect member efforts.
To date, these are the member actions NACDS has observed in media reports:
Reflecting NACDS members’ commitment to community engagement, NACDS staff members recently volunteered for the Arlington Food Assistance Center, whose headquarters are near the NACDS office, to collect fresh produce left on farmers’ fields after they have been harvested to ensure edible produce is not needlessly discarded. NACDS volunteers collected 1,089 pounds of vegetables from the fields.
Boston – Exhibitors at the 2016 National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Total Store Expo donated several thousand consumer goods to be dispersed to various charitable organizations throughout the Greater Boston community. The NACDS Total Store Expo was held August 6-9 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. I am very grateful to NACDS and their exhibitors for the generous donations that they have supplied to our local community health centers.
NACDS worked with the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority’s (MCCA) Conventions C.A.R.E. (Community Assistance by Responsible Events) program, which is distributing the products to local nonprofit organizations to be dispersed to those in need. The donations included health and wellness products such as vitamins, medications, bandages and first aid supplies.
Conventions C.A.R.E. was established by the MCCA in 2010 to benefit local non-profits, convention and trade show exhibitors, and convention centers. Local nonprofits benefit from useful donations, while exhibitors are saved the time and expense of shipping goods after a show ends. The MCCA and its partners in turn help divert these items from local landfills, which supports the Authority’s commitment to sustainable practices.
“NACDS chain and supplier members are highly engaged in the communities in which they operate, and NACDS reflects that spirit by partnering with the host cities of our conferences in ways that include donations of health and wellness products,” said NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE. “We appreciate what the MCCA has done to create Conventions C.A.R.E., which really sets the standard for effectiveness in product donation programs.”
“As a state authority, we are committed to having a positive impact on our host communities by providing support to local non-profit organizations,” said David Gibbons, executive director of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. “I am very grateful to NACDS and their exhibitors for the generous donations that they have supplied to our local community health centers.”
Some of the nonprofit social service agencies that are benefitting from the contribution from NACDS are:
· Condon Community Center
· Gavin Foundation
· Labouré Center
· South Boston Community Health Center
· South Boston Neighborhood House
· Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program
· South Boston en Acción
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