Thomas E. Menighan, MBA, ScD, FAPhA, FFIP

Dr. Thomas E. Menighan is CEO Emeritus of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) where he served as CEO from 2009 – 2020 and as Senior Director of External Affairs (1987-1992). As Sr. Director, he led external & state affairs, public relations, new business development, and practice management. Elected roles included six years as Trustee including President in 2001-2002. His professional leadership mantra is ”We promote consumer access and coverage for pharmacists’ quality patient care services.”

He is currently Assistant Dean for Community Engagement for the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy, and a co-founder in PursueCare (www.pursuecare.com) and PursueCareRx (www.pursuecarerx.com) -- companies that support patients in recovery. He serves as volunteer chair of the West Virginia Drug Intervention Institute (www.WVDII.Org), a national nonprofit educating children on safe medication use, and reducing accidental overdose deaths by placing naloxone proximate to these events via the ONEbox, essentially an AED with video instructions for naloxone administration by good Samaritans.

Menighan served former board roles with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), Pharmacy Quality Solutions (PQS) and parent Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA). He serves the Dean’s Council at WVU, the University of Maryland and Florida.

Menighan has founded, partnered, or served in senior management in multiple self-funded and venture or private equity funded companies and consulting practices including community, home infusion, specialty pharmacy and telehealth, Drug Utilization Review, Internet technology, supply chain integrity, and pharmaceutical distribution auditing. These companies include CEO of SymRx, developer of CornerDrugstore.com, SynTegra (supply chain auditing) and VP in PharMark, developer of RationalMed, an innovative Drug Utilization Review system in the mid-1990s. Menighan’s interest in DUR began while a staffer at APhA where a partnership was formed with the Iowa Pharmacists Association in the founding of QA, Inc. to promote pharmacists’ roles in DUR.

While CEO of APhA, a large coalition was formed to pursue provider status for pharmacists. Pharmacy Library was created to digitize publications, and Pharmacy Profiles (www.pharmacyprofiles.com) and ADVANCE were launched to create the authenticated database of pharmacists’ credentials and to create career navigation tools. The Pharmacy HIT Collaborative was formed, the Board of Pharmacy Specialties and APhA Foundation expanded significantly and the “new” APhA building came to life as a performing asset after John Gans’ leadership.

Menighan spent five years as a store manager for Thrift Drug and was a 20-year franchisee with the Medicine Shoppe in Huntington, WV. With two partners he founded Total Life Care in 1982 as a home infusion pharmacy, then joining Option Care as a franchisee for 20 years. In 1985 they pivoted to Specialty and became one of the largest Option Care practices for many of the 20-year history. Exiting as a franchisee, CompreCare continued specialty before becoming PursueCare (www.pursuecare.com), focused on treating patients in recovery with both pharmacy and behavioral telehealth services. Today’s PursueCare patients have access to ResetO (www.reachforreset.com), an FDA-authorized Prescription Digital Therapy for treatment of addiction.

He is a native of Sistersville, WV, earned his BS in Pharmacy from West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and an MBA from Averett College. He has been awarded the Bowl of Hygeia by WVPA, APhA and FIP Fellowship, and honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Charleston (2010) and West Virginia University (2011).

Tom and his wife Bonny funded the APhA Menighan Leadership Scholarship and the WVU Pharmacy Scholarship to help students to “Keep showing up, keep saying yes, be fearless about rejection. Live your life with an attitude of gratitude and service, and you’ll have a great career.”

APhA annually presents the APhA-APPM Menighan Pharmacy Management Excellence Award.

Menighan maintains an active consulting practice which began in 2020 and for 5 years was Catizone, Luce & Menighan, LLC supporting innovative practice, operations and advancement of technology. He is an advisor to the West Virginia Pharmacists Association (WVPA), his early professional home and enjoys mentoring and using his well-maintained database of contacts to connect smart people, facilitate growth and build relationships among friends, colleagues, and organizations.

Tom and Bonny live in Annapolis, Maryland. Tom’s daughter Caroline Menighan is a Nurse Practitioner treating patients in recovery. Nephew Alex Earl just completed an AAS in Computer Information Systems.