From the President's Desk

I hope this email finds you well. I know many of you are busy taking care of patients or wrapping up another academic quarter. I myself just completed a course with the third-year pharmacy students at Midwestern University, and transitioned back to my practice site, Loyola University Medical Center, to precept APPEs and collaborate on a general medicine service.

As many of you heard or read in my inaugural address, I charged all of you to reflect on your current engagement within ICHP and give a little more. I believe it is only fair to engage YOU as well and increase transparency with what the ICHP Board of Directors has been up to.

Several of your Board of Directors, past leaders, and active volunteers met earlier this month in East Peoria for the annual Leadership Retreat. We discussed how to build and maintain an inclusive organization, outlined ideas for our strategic plan, and had some fun with improv, an ICHP-themed coloring contest, and karaoke! The retreat concluded with the first Board of Directors Meeting for the 2022-2023 year.

I am excited to share that the Board unanimously approved the creation of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee and a Specialty Pharmacy Network. Both present unique opportunities for our members to come together and lead our organization into the future. Further details will be communicated in the months ahead about becoming involved in these new opportunities.

The Board also approved revisions to several ICHP Position Statements. These statements are routinely reviewed and updated by the Division of Professional Affairs, and are intended to guide the practice of pharmacy by its members and express ICHP’s viewpoint on important issues to patients and decision makers. The position statements are available for viewing on the ICHP website. The board also approved the 2021 ICHP Form 990, and heard several reports from our Divisions, Networks, and Student Chapters.

I will continue to provide a brief report from our board meetings when applicable. The next Board of Directors meeting is in mid-January.

Finally, one of the most awaited holidays is days away! We gather on Thanksgiving to be thankful for what we have, for the family we love, the friends we cherish, and for the blessings that will come. I wish all of you a harvest of peace, good health, and laughter.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Denise Kolanczyk
ICHP President