National Pharmacy Week is October 17th-23rd this year. The week acknowledges the contributions pharmacists and technicians make to those in and out of the hospital.
At Comanche County Memorial Hospital, they have two pharmacies. Their inpatient pharmacy within the hospital, and Great Plains Pharmacy which is inside the lobby of the Tomlinson Medical Complex.
“As a pharmacist, my number one goal when I come to work is to help the patients in any way that I can,” said Russell Goodman, a Pharmacist at CCMH’s Inpatient Pharmacy. “I want them to leave here better than they came in.”
Both CCMH pharmacies are celebrating pharmacy week and how the team works together to help patients and the community.
“I think it’s important always to recognize the staff that we have working here,” said Seth Julian, a Pharmacist at Great Plains Pharmacy. “It gives time for us to recognize them every day of the week. Because they work hard every day of the year.”
“It’s always nice to get some recognition,” Goodman said. “Again, we don’t do it for the recognition, we’re just here for the patient, but it is nice every once and a while.”
Goodman said they’ve been busy.
“We generally have three or four pharmacists that are just inputting orders,” he said. “Every order a physician or a nurse enters, we’re verifying that, making sure everything is right, making sure the patient isn’t allergic to it, the dose is correct, all that stuff.”
He says they also have pharmacists available to visit patients admitted in the hospital. They answer questions patients may have about their medication and make sure they know what they’re taking and what to expect. Goodman said their inpatient pharmacy also serves as the only 24/7 retail pharmacy in the area for their team members and patients being discharged from the hospital or emergency room so those patients can get the medication they need before they even head home.
“If you have a patient in the ER, they had a surgery, or after they had a baby, we’ll provide those medications to them,” Goodman said. “We’ll even deliver it to their room. That just takes a lot of stress of getting out of the hospital and trying to hunt that down, waiting in line for an hour to get a prescription filled.”
Now once you’ve been discharged, you can’t use the inpatient pharmacy. However, Julian said you can get your prescriptions filled at the Great Plains Pharmacy. That pharmacy is for the community, not just those who see doctors at CCMH.
“If you go to LCHC clinic, MMG clinic, you can come here,” Julian said. “There are some programs that we offer that may be able to get you your medicine at a better rate than what your insurance provides it for, or if you don’t have insurance, we may be able to help you with that.”
Julian said they have convenient curbside pickup for those who don’t want to go inside to get their prescription. He said you just have to call the pharmacy, and they’ll take it to you.