Federal Pharmacy
Joey Sweeney, PharmD, BCPS
Providing comprehensive medical services to patients in Alaska can be challenging—the state has over 660,000 square miles with a population under 800,000 people. Sparse population density coupled with many residents living in remote villages without an interconnected road system complicates logistics of providing many health services.
But the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC), a 173-bed level II trauma and pediatric trauma hospital—the largest hospital in the Indian Health Service—has always been an anchor. The hospital provides acute, specialty, primary, and behavioral health care to Alaska Natives and American Indians.
When the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the activation of the incident command center (ICS) in Alaska, 5 of the 45 positions were filled by Commissioned Corp pharmacy officers. These 5 officers comprised the entire ANMC pharmacy leadership team. They managed PPE across the state, assisted with implementing COVID-19 viral and antibody testing, and oversaw logistics of the ICS, according to a letter about the response effort published in the July 2021 issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.
This meant that remaining pharmacy staff at ANMC needed to step up into vacated managerial roles. These staff members seamlessly coordinated rural village medication deliveries, enabled curb-side pickup at 6 campus pharmacies, provided delivery options for patients with COVID-19, managed remdesivir inventory, developed telehealth capabilities for virtual counseling across Alaska, and organized wellness and morale-boosting activities for staff.
Specialized pharmacy team contributed to success
Staff at the ANMC includes United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps officers. All USPHS officers, including pharmacists, are trained on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ICS. This training ensures officers can serve as leaders to coordinate an integrated response to a crisis via a common organizational structure.
ANMC employs 88 pharmacists and 42% are board certified in at least one specialty. Despite a relatively small pharmacist staff, they comprise 36% of all of Alaska’s board-certified pharmacists. This highly specialized group is the result of ANMC’s dedication to pharmacist development. The organization incentivizes board certification as part of a tiered pharmacist growth ladder with corresponding financial support for board certification.
“ANMC pharmacists are known throughout the organization as always being reliable, knowledgeable, competent, and the go-to resource for patient safety, process improvement, and drug knowledge,” said Deborah Lerner, MD, medical director for ANMC’s pediatric ICU. “We value knowing our specialized pharmacists are board certified, continually expanding their knowledge, and setting the bar for the state and nation,” said Lerner.
Emergency response is practiced at regular intervals in Alaska. Part of this practice includes providing emergency medications or vaccinations during a public health emergency. In 2019, USPHS pharmacist officers at ANMC were trained on how to participate as part of a community-wide readiness operation. This allowed the pharmacist officers to add hands-on experience to their ICS training.
ANMC pharmacy formally recognized with national award
The ANMC was recognized with the Organizational Category Award on February 10, 2020, for the exceptional care provided to its patients and its focus on the advancement of pharmacist knowledge by supporting board certification.
The Warren E. Weaver/Richard P. Penna Award was established by the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) in 2017. Criteria include organizations that have advanced health quality and/or patient care by promoting the recognition and value of specialized training, knowledge, and skills in pharmacy and the BPS board certification of pharmacists.
Pharmacists at the ANMC were able to set up substantial services for their patient populations, while the leadership team was called up to serve on the ICS to assist with the rest of the state’s pandemic response. Prior focus and investment on pharmacist knowledge advancement and board certification likely played a role in such a successful response during this tumultuous time.