BETHESDA, MD 25 November 2009—The federal official who oversees the health care needs of millions of veterans on October 28 presented the first-ever awards recognizing staff members’ excellence in pharmacy practice, innovation, and program advancement.
Gerald Cross, the acting under secretary for health for the Veterans Health Administration, conferred the Excellence in Pharmacy Practice Award to Susan H. Lee of Seattle and the Pharmacy Benefits Management Innovation Award to a team from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in San Diego.
Lee practices pharmacy in the intensive care unit at the VAMC in Seattle.
Although she has worked at the VAMC for only three years, Lee has become an asset to the surgical team as well as the intensive care unit, said Lori J. Golterman, a cochair for the awards program.
The San Diego team—Victoria E. Aldridge, Helen K. Park, Mark Bounthavong, Jessica Harris, Andrea Nguyen, Trisha Ung, and Anthony Morreale—launched an emergency department pharmacy program two years ago.
Last year the team received the ASHP Best Practices Award in Health-System Pharmacy for their program. A description of their program was published in the November 1, 2009, issue of AJHP.
Physician Clinton Greenstone from the VAMC in Ann Arbor, Michigan, received the Advancement of Pharmacy Programs Award for his collaborative practice with pharmacy personnel.
Lee and Greenstone each received a cash award of $5,000. The San Diego team received a total cash award of $10,000.
Golterman and Patrick Minard, both with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Pharmacy Benefits Management Services, cochaired the awards program.
The awards ceremony took place in Washington, D.C., at the department’s central office.
Golterman said the program, which is planned to occur annually, had been in the making for about two years.
