Shenandoah Valley Compassionate Pharmacy Program Wins Commonwealth Council on Aging 2009 Best Practice Award
Shenandoah University, physicians from Winchester Medical Center and the Rite Aid Corporation collaborate in the non-profit program
Jeff Delafuente (center right) from the Commonwealth Council on Aging in Richmond, Va., presents a Best Practice Award to the Shenandoah Valley Compassionate Pharmacy program represented by (left to right) Dr. John Armstrong, Pharmacist William Dillon and Patient Advocate Donna Daddeau.
The Shenandoah Valley Compassionate Pharmacy (SVCP) program associated with Shenandoah University’s Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy won the Commonwealth Council on Aging 2009 Best Practice Award in the community partnership category, the most competitive category.
The award was presented on June 9, at the SVCP, which is located inside the Rite Aid Pharmacy at 507 Amherst St. in Winchester. Jeff Delafuente, a member of the Commonwealth Council on Aging in Richmond, Va., presented the award.
Shenandoah University, physicians from Winchester Medical Center and the Rite Aid Corporation collaborate in the non-profit SVCP program, which is funded by foundation grants, donations and the City of Winchester, and was established in 2003.
Medications the pharmacy receives and dispenses are acquired from pharmaceutical companies through their patient assistance programs. These chronic medications are free for patients who meet the manufacturers’financial eligibility requirements. SVCP patients, primarily senior citizens, are typically referred there by their physicians. SVCP processes all the paperwork necessary to receive and dispense medications.
“This is a wonderful program that combines helping seniors in need with educating students about the concerns of older citizens who are the most common recipients of prescription drugs,”said Gene Ecton Davis, chairperson of the Commonwealth Council on Aging.
“This is a wonderful program that combines helping seniors in need with educating students about the concerns of older citizens who are the most common recipients of prescription drugs,”said Gene Ecton Davis, chairperson of the Commonwealth Council on Aging. “We were very impressed by the immediate assistance to those in need combined with the education for pharmacy practices in the near future. We would also like to see this program replicated across our great Commonwealth.”
The Shenandoah Valley Compassionate Pharmacy (SVCP) is a non-profit collaborative program between Shenandoah University (SU), physicians at Winchester Medical Center and Rite Aid Corporation. The goals of the program are to provide free chronic medications to senior patients who qualify for drug manufacturers’patient assistance programs and serve as a learning and research site for SU pharmacy students. Since the program inception in February 2003, 765 seniors have received 16,248 free prescriptions valued at $5,514,448. Twenty pharmacy students have completed service learning clinical experiences at the SVCP, five have completed senior research projects using data from the SVCP and one student has studied and published SVCP patient outcomes. One part-time pharmacist and one patient advocate staff the independent pharmacy four days a week. The annual budget is about $60,000 with funding primarily from foundation grants, church donations, physicians and the City of Winchester, Va.
For information, contact Mary Ann Kirkpatrick, secretary of the SVCP and professor and associate dean for student affairs for the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy, at (540) 665-1281 or mkirkpat@su.edu.
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