In my first message to you as APhA’s CEO, I spoke of this job and of our profession as a sort of home. As we enter American Pharmacists Month, my thoughts return to that idea.
Our profession is facing an inflection point. The exhaustion, worry, and frustration many of you have been feeling is real. For far too long, pharmacists have been asked to fulfill their role in health care without adequate staff support to do so. There’s plenty of blame to go around—corporations and health-systems need to do more, and without delay, to ensure pharmacists can safely dispense medications and care for patients. In fact, APhA needs to do more—I acknowledge that you need to have confidence in being able to count on us, the voice of pharmacy, to have your back. We’ve heard your voices and are further intensifying the actions we are taking on your behalf. We stand firmly by pharmacists who’ve had to make tough decisions to pull back from unsafe work conditions in order to protect patient safety.
We are also working overtime with Congress and state legislatures to address systemic issues via legislative action. This includes PBM reform and passing of provider status laws. Without substantive reforms to payment for what we do, the present situation will not have a permanent, sustainable solution. That said, the most recent report from the Pharmacy Workplace and Well-Being Reporting (PWWR) system shows that workplace harassment and lack of staffing for pharmacies is real and should be addressed immediately—this can’t wait on payment reform.
I’m not going to ask you for patience; we’ve all been patient long enough. We are one pharmacy family, bound by an inextricable oath, and bonded by a desire to relieve suffering and deliver quality patient care. That must mean something, and to me, it means our professional home is with each other, helping each other, lifting each other up, supporting each other in good times and bad. It means working together. We are all desperate for change, and it can’t happen fast enough. We must stick together. This is American Pharmacists Month, and I celebrate you. I know many of you are exhausted. However, I believe that there is a brighter day coming, and APhA staff and elected leaders are working hard to make that brighter day a reality. I remain in awe of the core goodness of our profession. Together, there isn’t a single problem we won’t solve and we will be stronger because of it.