Scott Webb (Host): Welcome to LifeCast, the podcast from Infirmary Health. I'm Scott Webb. Today, I'm joined by Trey Gwin, registered pharmacist and medication safety coordinator with Infirmary Health, to discuss an exciting new designation for Infirmary Health pharmacies.

Trey, it's nice to have you here today. We're going to talk about this new pharmacy certification at Infirmary Health. And I know a Certified Center of Excellence designation is a nationally respected benchmark, right? So, maybe you could explain how it feels for you and your team to achieve this certification.

Trey Gwin: Well, thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be with you today. We at Infirmary Health are just absolutely ecstatic to receive this very prestigious designation from ASHP. Kind of has a long drawn-out name, but ASHP of course is the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. And we have been designated as a Certified Center of Excellence in Medication Use Safety and Pharmacy Practice.

It's basically a culmination of the last several years of very hard work by our dedicated pharmacy team across the system. And it's really a tremendous accomplishment, a very big deal, and it represents Infirmary's commitment to providing high-quality pharmacy services and patient care.

Host: Yeah, it is a big deal. That's a good way to put that. I like that. Maybe may have some T-shirts made, "This is a big deal." I love it. And you give us a sense there that there's quite a process involved. So, maybe you can take us through that. What was the process for obtaining the certification?

Trey Gwin: So if you're familiar with healthcare at all, you're familiar with the Joint Commission on Accreditation, which is an accrediting body that comes in and looks at quality, looks at your performance, at all really healthcare facilities and accredits them. The process is kind of similar to that. It's just much more involved and detailed, and focused on pharmacy services and the care provided by the pharmacy team. So, think of a kind of a Joint Commission survey, but very much focused on pharmacy services.

Host: Okay.

Trey Gwin: For this certification, ASHP, they established over seven hundred individual standards of performance that we were evaluated on. So, they really kind of set a high bar for certification.

Host: Yeah, for sure. Seven hundred, that's a lot. So, I want to find out, you know, Alabama's a pretty large state, is your organization the first in Alabama to receive this?

Trey Gwin: Yes. We're very proud of that. We're the tenth organization in the country, the Second in the Southeast. And like you said, the very first in Alabama. So, we're extremely proud to be in that exclusive club.

Host: Yeah. Yeah, exclusive is right. As you said, it is a big deal, and it's a big deal for patients especially. So, what does it mean for patients, and how do they benefit from this?

Trey Gwin: So, obtaining this certification really kind of just validates what we kind of already knew. Our pharmacy team provides tremendous high-quality patient care across Baldwin and Mobile County in Southern Alabama. So, patients can really rest assure that they will continue to receive the very best, safest care possible when visiting any of our Infirmary Health facilities. Our vision is to be the first choice for healthcare in the Gulf Coast region, and this certification reinforces that vision.

Host: Yeah, it certainly does. And maybe you can just tell us more, more sort of broadly about the pharmacy program at Infirmary Health.

Trey Gwin: Yeah, sure. We provide a wide variety of pharmacy services across Mobile and Baldwin County, including of course our three acute care facilities, Mobile Infirmary Medical Center located in Mobile, Alabama, Thomas Hospital located in Fairhope, Alabama, and North Baldwin Infirmary, which is located in Bay Minette, Alabama. In addition to two freestanding emergency departments, home infusion, a variety of retail pharmacies as well. I think in all total we have 16 pharmacies throughout the system.

Host: Okay. Yeah. So, 16 pharmacies, and you give us a sense of like what a big deal this is and how patients benefit, and maybe just give you a chance here. Just tell us a little bit more about your team. You know, you're sort of the face of the team, and you're the one speaking today. But just generally, you know, some moments of pride for you and your team or the day-to-day interactions, whatever it might be.

Trey Gwin: We're very proud of our team. We have extremely intelligent, highly trained pharmacists really throughout the 16 pharmacies across the system, providing a wide variety of pharmaceutical services to the community. I couldn't be more proud of them. This was definitely a team effort and supported by senior leadership. We could not have done it without them.

Host: Yeah, for sure, of course. Get that support from the leadership team on down, and you and the team and everybody there. If folks want to learn more, if they haven't learned enough already from our podcast today, Trey, where can they do that?

Trey Gwin: Yeah, I'd just advise them, if you want to learn more about Infirmary Health or pharmacy services provided by Infirmary Health, the easiest way is probably just to go on infirmaryhealth.org and search pharmacy to find out more about us.

Host: Yeah, easy enough. Folks are familiar with the internet, of course. So, infirmaryhealth.org. And again, you know, this, pharmacy program at Infirmary Health really has set a new standard of care by receiving the ASHP—and you spelled that out for us, but American Society of Health-System Pharmacists—Certified Center of Excellence. It is a mouthful, and it is a big deal for medication use safety, pharmacy practice, all good stuff. Thank you so much.

Trey Gwin: Thank you, Scott. Appreciate it.

Host: And for more information, go to infirmaryhealth.org. And if you enjoyed this podcast, please share on social media and subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite podcast apps. This is LifeCast, the podcast from Infirmary Health. I'm Scott Webb. Thanks for listening. Stay well.