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Official Newsjournal of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists

President's Year-End Message

by Travis Hunerdosse, PharmD, MBA

It is hard to believe that my term as ICHP President is coming to a close. Serving as President has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and has “elevated” me both personally and professionally. The connections made through ICHP are life long and I enjoy seeing members develop into leaders in the organization, encouraging volunteers to step up to serve on the divisions, networks and committees, and welcoming new members into this great professional organization. ICHP has served as my professional home and I thank each of you for making it an amazing organization. I also want to thank our board of directors, divisions, networks and committees for a fantastic year. Your accomplishments this year make me very proud.

I want to extend a special thanks to Scott Meyers and Trish Wegner. Without their encouragement to step up and volunteer, I would not be where I am in the organization today. They have a burning passion for our profession and are always striving to ensure that ICHP serves as a professional home for health system pharmacy professionals in the state of Illinois and that ICHP continues to be recognized as a national state affiliate leader. The ICHP staff also deserves recognition for their hard work to keep the organization running. It has truly been a pleasure to work with each and every one of you during my time on the board of directors and as President.

This year has brought many accomplishments for ICHP that I would like to highlight. First, I would like to recognize the division of Educational Affairs, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee for working with our membership and the deans of the colleges of pharmacy to reconvene the Pharmacy Coalition. This group will bring together preceptors and leaders from the colleges of pharmacy and health systems to improve the experiential educational experiences for our students in addition to optimizing the evaluation process and preceptor development. The Marketing Affairs Division has been working to elevate the membership experience by developing new and established member programs, bolstering the Champions Program, and fostering ways for our technician members to stay connected and discuss issues important to them. Advocacy is a large piece of the value that ICHP brings to its members. The Divisions of Professional Affairs and Government Affairs ensure that ICHP’s position statements are developed to support our professional work, address current issues important to our profession and that our state legislature recognizes this work. Organizational Affairs has completed a lot of work to ensure ICHP’s governing documents are up to date and reflect recent changes in our governance with the dissolution of the house of delegates and brought forth revisions to ICHP’s mission and vision statement that ensure it remains contemporary.

ICHPs Networks have many accomplishments this year as well. I am proud of the leaders and volunteers of these networks who bring together members with specific interests and meet the unique needs of these individuals. This year, the ICHP board approved the formation of two new networks to support the needs of our members - the 340B Network and the Small and Rural Hospital Network.

The New Practitioners and Ambulatory Care Networks continue to impress me with all the great work that they do. I appreciate the energy that these two networks generate for ICHP and its members. The NPN works collaboratively with the divisions on volunteer activities, member educational programing, and fun events that bring together the membership. The Ambulatory Care Network has created a task force to establish guidelines for ambulatory care practice in Illinois. This is extremely important work to address the needs of this growing section of health system pharmacy and support advocacy efforts as the pharmacy practice act is being reviewed.

My theme of this year was Elevate. Elevate yourself, your team, and your profession. My hope is that each of you became comfortable with being uncomfortable, stepped up and volunteered, and acted to elevate yourself, your team, and your profession. Remember, the sky’s the limit and it starts with you.