New Beginnings! Here is to the Health and Fitness of MSHP!

It is a very exciting time for MSHP. It’s a time to close one chapter of MSHP’s history, while at the same time starting a new chapter. In the near future, MSHP will begin a new relationship with a new management company. Before I talk about the future, I would like to thank Centric for their service to MSHP and their efforts to continuing to help move our organization forward. A particular heart-felt thank you to Sara Neiswanger, who has served as our primary contact with the Centric management group. I would also like to thank our search committee for identifying a new management group for MSHP. This committee was led by Past President, Andy Smith, and committee members included Brad Cook, Tony Huke, Paul Juang, and David Wolfrath. In a short amount of time, the search committee developed a request for proposal (RFP), reviewed potential proposals, interviewed potential companies, and provided a recommendation to the MSHP Board of Directors for the next management company. Currently, a contract is being negotiated with the identified company and more details will be shared as the process continues to move forward.

But as I stated at the start of my remarks, it is a very exciting time for MSHP. It’s a time for a new beginning. From the way I look at it, it’s a great time “to get in shape”. It’s a time to identify where we are healthy and a time to identify what areas we can improve upon in order to have a strong, fit, and healthy organization. Therefore, during my upcoming presidential year, I would like to set a theme of fitness and wellness. A pharmacist or technician needs to embrace the ideas of fitness and wellness and be healthy themselves in order to best serve our patients and to give back to our profession. Fitness and wellness is often referred to now as a “lifestyle” change, not something that is a fad or the latest diet trend. Living a fit life requires a dedication to healthy habits. Now, I’m not saying that MSHP is not healthy, but what I am saying is that a healthy lifestyle is something to live by for the long run. It’s something you continually have to work at. A person or organization must work and be dedicated to a healthy lifestyle and healthy habits. As, we transition into a new management company we want to continue to build upon our healthy habits and work to create new healthy habits where needed. Over the past year, the MSHP Board of Directors have been working hard to get MSHP “in shape” for the future and ready for our next chapter in our organization’s history.

In order for MSHP to be healthy and to continue to grow, we need our members to be involved. As health system pharmacists, we are in high demand by our patients, providers, work places, and families. Finding time to be involved in professional organizations can be a struggle when many of our plates are already very full balancing work and life responsibilities.

I am a true believer that many hands make lighter work. Additionally, greater things can be achieved when working together than individually. We have many things we want to achieve as an organization and by working together we can achieve great things.

Each year the presidential officers attend a retreat sponsored by ASHP to help prepare our leaders to lead our state organization. This year a major theme discussed was the creation of micro-volunteer opportunities. Micro-volunteer opportunities are small opportunities to get involved with the completion of a small task or activity. Maybe it’s reviewing posters or contacting a state legislator or mentoring a student. These small actions can have a big impact on our organization, members, and the patients we serve. So, be on the lookout for opportunities to get involved. If you only have a few hours of time to give for a one-time activity or have the availability to join one of our regularly occurring committee meetings, I encourage you to please get involved.

In closing, there is a lot we can do as an organization when we are healthy and fit. We have a good base, but it takes focused attention to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We want to continue to be fit and continue to grow even stronger. We owe this to our members and we owe this to our patients. The future of MSHP is very bright. I’m excited to work with you through this next chapter of our history to continue to advance our great organization.

One final thought, MSHP is your organization. If you have ideas on things MSHP could be or should be doing, please take a moment to share your ideas with me or a member of the Board of Directors. We want to hear your ideas.