This past weekend at its annual meeting, the Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) announced its 2013 award winners — all of whom are individuals who demonstrate a commitment to the quality of patient care. Among this year’s honorees were UW School of Pharmacy faculty members Andy Stergachis and Ryan Hansen and clinical faculty members Steven Anderson, Ryan Oftebro and Steven Singer.
Andy Stergachis, UW professor of epidemiology and global health, adjunct professor of pharmacy and health services, and director of the UW Global Medicines Program, received the Pharmacist of the Year Award. A registered pharmacist, Stergachis has spent much of his career connecting pharmacists with the public health community. He is presently pharmacy adviser to the Public Health – Seattle & King County Preparedness Section and a member of the Public Health Reserve Corps. He has been instrumental in connecting local and state public health officials with the WSPA and pharmacy leaders to strengthen the role of pharmacies and pharmacists in emergency preparedness planning. He is also an affiliate faculty member with the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research & Policy Program and former chair of our Department of Pharmacy. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.
Ryan Hansen, ’03, ’12, acting assistant professor of pharmacy, and Ryan Oftebro, ’03, clinical associate professor of pharmacy, won the Cardinal Health Generation Rx Award, which recognizes excellence in community-based prescription drug abuse prevention. Ryan Hansen is vice president and director of technology at Kelley-Ross Pharmacy in Seattle, and he is an Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality/UW K12 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Scholar at the UW. Oftebro is a pharmacist and co-owner of Kelley-Ross Pharmacy. Both Hansen and Oftebro are highly involved in the WSPA and the American College of Apothecaries. Together, they led Kelley-Ross Pharmacy’s partnership with StopOverdose.org, Public Health – Seattle & King County, and the UW Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute to provide Take-Home Naloxone in an effort to prevent opioid overdose. This program provides access to naloxone as an overdose rescue kit for anyone at risk of an opioid overdose, as well as anyone at risk of witnessing an opioid overdose.
Affiliate Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Steven Singer, ’81, received the Distinguished Leadership Service Award. His career in pharmacy practice has been diverse and has included community, hospital, managed care, long term care and now hospice. Throughout his career, he has always kept patient care as a top priority. He has served on advisory panels for pharmaceutical manufacturers and currently serves on two committees at our School. He is also a co-chair of the WSPA Community/Ambulatory Care Academy. Whether he is providing historical viewpoints or challenging the leadership to think ahead, Singer is a valued voice among pharmacy leaders. In 2009, he received our School’s Distinguished Alumnus in Pharmacy Practice Award.
Clinical Pharmacy Instructor Steven Anderson received the Bill Mueller Outstanding Mentor Award. As pharmacy manager at the Bartell Drug store in University Village in Seattle, he is deeply involved in the precepting and training of UW pharmacy students. In fact, throughout his career, Anderson has mentored and precepted nearly 80 pharmacy students. His students describe him as a passionate pharmacist who is never too busy to answer a question or offer an explanation. Understanding the importance of pharmacy’s involvement in patient care, Anderson began an immunization program at his facility in 2003 and a travel clinic in 2010. He became an American Pharmacists Association Immunization Instructor in 2012. He was awarded the Wayne Kradjan Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching earlier this year from our School.
Alumnus and former affiliate instructor Glenn Adams, ’98, was also honored by the WSPA. He won the Health System Pharmacist of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding health-system pharmacists and their services to the profession. He is the administrative director of pharmacy for Confluence Health in Central Washington.
The winners were recognized at the awards luncheon on November 9th during the 2013 WSPA Annual Meeting in Grand Mound, Washington.
~November 12, 2013