President-Elect

Shelby Kelsh graduated from SUNY-Buffalo with her PharmD and moved to Western Michigan to complete her PGY1 at Spectrum Health. She joined WMSHP as a resident and has been a member since. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Ferris State University. She holds a clinical practice site at Spectrum Health Internal Medicine Residency Clinic as an ambulatory care pharmacist. Shelby has had the pleasure of serving as a WMSHP board member since January 2019. Shelby has coordinated multiple CE events and the WMSHP/FSU Residency Showcase. Please consider electing Shelby as president-elect.

Treasurer

Andrea Borst attended Hope College from 2008-2012 where she received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry. From 2012-2016, she attended Ferris State University and earned her Doctor of Pharmacy. Following pharmacy school, Andrea successfully completed a PGY-1 residency at Spectrum Health and a PGY-2 pediatric residency at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. Andrea currently works at Helen DeVos as a clinical pharmacist with a focus on general pediatrics, cystic fibrosis, and kidney transplant. In her free time, Andrea enjoys running, reading, and spending time with her husband and 14-month-old daughter. Andrea has been a WMSHP board member since 2018. During her time on the board, Andrea has planned three monthly meetings, including the Resident Continuing Education Event in 2021, and has volunteered at the annual WMSHP Mock Interview and CV Review at Ferris State University. Andrea is excited to continue her involvement with WMSHP by serving as treasurer.

Board Members

Chad Hutson is a 2012 graduate of Ferris State University’s College of Pharmacy. During pharmacy school, Chad was an intern at Ascension Borgess Hospital for several years where he completed several projects such as drug use evaluations and nursing in-services. Shortly after earning his doctorate Chad moved into a management role at Portage Pharmacy as director of compounding, where a large portion of his time was spent responding to and developing policy changes to address FDA and Michigan state board of pharmacy inspection findings. After this role, Chad moved to a clinical compounding consultant role at Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA), where his role consisted of offering regulatory and process guidance to numerous compounding pharmacies in the US, Canada and Australia. In addition to consulting, Chad’s role included serving as an instructor for new and experienced sterile compounders, developing and giving presentations on various compounding related topics, and developing standard operating procedures for pharmacies to align with regulatory requirements. Chad has also earned his board certification in sterile compounding. Most recently, Chad has moved to a staff pharmacist position at Ascension Borgess Hospital where he also manages various aspects of compounding activities and policies and continues to serve as a contract consultant for PCCA.

Nathan L Kanous II, PharmD, BCPS is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Ambulatory Care at the Ascension Borgess in Kalamazoo. He received his PharmD from Ferris State University and completed an ASHP-accredited ambulatory care residency at the William S. Middleton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Since graduation, Nathan has worked in many practice settings including academia at two different universities, the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy benefits and managed care. His clinical interests focus on ambulatory endocrinology and cardiology, geriatrics, and de-prescribing.

Tara McAlpine is a current WMSHP Board member and a co-chair of the Membership and Community Outreach Committee. She is an ambulatory care pharmacist and has enjoyed over five years working for Bronson Healthcare in Southwest Michigan, where she remained after completing her residency. At Bronson she has helped grow the ambulatory care program since 2018. She is now excited to be transitioning to join the ambulatory care team at Mercy Health in November, serving the Grand Rapids area where she resides. She has been a member of WMSHP since 2015 and has served on the WMSHP Board since 2018. Tara looks forward to the opportunity to continue to serve on the Board, including continuing her involvement with events like the Mock Interview and CV review for Ferris students.

Benjamin Pontefract graduated from the University of Toledo with his PharmD in 2016. The following year, he completed a PGY1 ambulatory care residency at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. He finished his post-graduate training by completing a 2-year antimicrobial stewardship fellowship at the Boise VA Medical Center in Boise Idaho. After completing his post-graduate training, he accepted a position as an assistant professor at Ferris State University where he currently teaches calculations and infectious diseases topics. Through this, he also works at Spectrum Health Blodgett Medical center as a clinical pharmacist. This allows him to precept P4 students on internal medicine APPE rotations.

Technician Board

We currently have no nominees for this position.  If you or someone you know would be interested in this post, please contact any WMSHP Board Member.

Our fall continuing education programming started off with an excellent presentation by Curtis Smith, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS.  Dr. Smith discussed the most up-to-date research and recommendations for vaccinations in his presentation “Vaccine Update 2021: COVID-19 and Beyond.”  A huge thank you to Dr. Smith for providing our members with such an informative presentation.  Our October Board meeting and CE presentation will take place virtually on October 14^th.  Autumn Neff, PharmD, MBA will present to our membership on “The Fundamentals of Dementia Care.”  Make sure you RSVP here!

The annual WMSHP/FSU Residency Showcase will take place virtually on Thursday, October 7^th.  Programming will begin at 5 pm with a panel discussion followed by the showcase from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.  From 5:30 – 6:30 the showcase will be open to current P4 students and PGY1s, and from 6:30 – 7:30 all potential trainees are welcome as long as you are registered!  More information and registration can be found here.

It is almost time for our annual WMSHP Board elections.  If you are interested or would like to nominate a colleague for one of our open Board positions, please contact myself or any other member of the Board.  Please include a brief bio about the person being nominated.  The positions up for election this year are: President-elect, Treasurer, and Board (four pharmacists and one pharmacy technician).  The deadline for nominations is October 22^nd.

The change of seasons means the annual ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting is not far away!  This year WMSHP is giving away five(!) $250 scholarships to deserving pharmacy students.  While the meeting will be conducted virtually, these scholarships will still help to offset the registration costs.  To be eligible for one of these scholarships, students should have an expected graduation date in 2022, be in good standing with their respective College of Pharmacy, and be a current or native resident of West Michigan.  To apply for this scholarship, students must submit his/her CV along with a cover letter outlining his/her interest in attending the Midyear Clinical Meeting and his/her future career goals.  All submissions and/or any questions can be directed to myself at schmidtj@bronsonhg.org.  Applications must be submitted by November 1^st.

I hope you all have a great month and take the opportunity to enjoy the fall weather!  As always if you have any comments or concerns about improving your membership experience, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Julie

While the weather this week sure does not feel like fall is upon us, it’s time for the kiddos to get back to school which also means it’s time for WMSHP activities to start up again.  Our June summer planning meeting was quite productive and I am excited for the upcoming months.  While the Board was hopeful we would be able to gather in person this fall, we have decided that our monthly meetings will continue to be via Zoom through the remainder of 2021.  We do not take this decision lightly but know it is in the best interest of our members, families, and patients.  Other organizations have also decided to conduct their annual fall meetings virtually, including MSHP and ACCP.

Our fall continuing education programming will kick off on September 16^th with Dr. Curtis Smith presenting “Vaccine Update 2021: COVID-19 and Beyond.”  I am confident Dr. Smith will deliver a very engaging and educational presentation.  Both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians may register here.  As health-system pharmacists, technicians, residents, and students, we have all been aware of the importance of vaccination against preventable diseases even before the current pandemic.  The current days we are living in have certainly heightened this awareness.  ASHP has developed a free toolkit that can be accessed by members as well as non-members.  I encourage you to visit their COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Toolkit and utilize their resources to promote vaccinations in our communities.

With the start of fall, comes the next group of P4 students interested in post-graduate training.  Our annual WMSHP/Ferris State University Residency Showcase will be held virtually on October 7^th.  Registration may be completed via the WMSHP website in the coming weeks.  We received positive feedback after the last showcase last year.  If you have any suggestions of how we may improve it for this year, please do not hesitate to contact me at schmidtj@bronsonhg.org.

Board nominations: Current West Michigan PGY-1 and PGY-2 residents should have received information from your RPD earlier this month regarding our Resident-At-Large position.  Please remember to submit your application no later than this Friday, August 27^th.  In addition to our Resident-At-Large position, we will also be accepting nominations in the near future for President-elect, Treasurer, and Board (four pharmacists and one technician).  Please strongly consider nominating a coworker, friend, or yourself who is interested in advancing health-system pharmacy!

For our April WMSHP meeting, pharmacy residents Aleah Hunt and Emily Thurnherr presented their research projects on apixaban and rivaroxaban reversal and vancomycin AUC dosing. Both residents did an excellent job presenting their research on these timely topics in the pharmacy world.

Our 52nd Annual WMSHP Spring Seminar will be here before we know it! Join us virtually via Zoom on Tuesday, May 11th for this daylong event. The Board has been working hard to make sure it is a well-rounded, informative conference. This year we are excited the day’s activities will be free for current WMSHP members. If you are not a current WMSHP member there is a reduced cost this year compared to previous years: $20 for pharmacists and $10 for pharmacy technicians. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be able to obtain up to five live continuing education credits. This year CE topics include gout, telepharmacy, vancomycin dosing, pharmacy law, and chronic pain. We also look forward to our vendor engagement and reverse exhibitor program.  Register by May 7th at https://wmshp.net/event-4218735.

I think it is safe to say the majority of us are looking forward to warmer weather and sunshine. While we normally look forward to our annual summer outing at the West Michigan Whitecaps, in the best interest of our membership we will not be gathering as a group there this year. I hope next year proves different and we are able to gather in person and enjoy the all-you-can-eat BBQ.

The board will be holding our summer planning meeting via Zoom on June 3rd. If you have any comments, concerns, or items you would like us to review at this meeting please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or the entire board.

I hope to “see” you all on May 11th!

Julie

March started off with a virtual continuing education presentation delivered by Dr. Kevin Bozymski, Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.  Dr. Bozymski delivered a very educational presentation regarding pharmacotherapy of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  Our April continuing education programming will feature our annual pharmacy resident presentations.  This year Dr. Aleah Hunt, Spectrum Health PGY1, will deliver her presentation “The Effects of FEIBA® and Andexanet Alfa for the Reversal of Apixaban and Rivaroxaban in Uncontrolled Hemorrhage,” while Dr. Emily Thurnherr, Ascension Borgess PGY1, will share her research "Impact of Implementing a Vancomycin Area Under the Curve (AUC)-based Dosing Protocol on Nephrotoxicity.”  We look forward to hearing how their hard work has paid off for their research projects this year.

Our annual P3 scholarship application is now open for interested third year pharmacy students.  This year WMSHP will award one $1000 scholarship and two $500 scholarships.  The link to the application can be found at WMSHP Scholarship.  Please see this link for scholarship criteria.  Further questions can be directed to Sarah Hoerner at sarah.hoerner@spectrumhealth.org.  Please note the deadline for application submission is April 2, 2021.

This month also brings about finalizing the details for our Annual Spring Seminar.  Last year this seminar was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year it will be held in May as it traditionally has been.  Mark the date for Tuesday, May 11^th!  This seminar will include informative programming including 5 live CE credits for both technicians and pharmacists, including one law and one pain CE.  Additionally, we are excited to have vendor engagement to provide a well rounded experience for all attendees.  Registration is open now at Western Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists - 52nd Annual WMSHP Spring Seminar.

WMSHP started off the month of February with an excellent continuing education presentation delivered by Bryant Froberg, PharmD, PGY2 Infectious Disease Resident at Munson Medical Center.  Dr. Froberg discussed antifungal pharmacotherapy concepts, including spectrum of activity and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic considerations.  A big thanks to Dr. Froberg for an informative presentation.  Our March continuing education session will be presented by Kevin Bozymski, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP.  Dr. Bozymski is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.  We look forward to hearing his presentation entitled “More Than Immediate-Release Tablets: Exploring Treatment Options for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder” via Zoom on March 11^th.

Highlights from our February Board meeting include discussing a committee merger between our current Community Outreach Committee and our Membership Committee.  This merged committee will be jointly led by our Resident-at-Large as well as a Board member.  Prior to the merge, our Community Outreach committee has been working diligently on a new project.  The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone, including health-system pharmacy personnel who have spent countless hours directly caring for these patients and staying up-to-date with ever evolving treatment protocols.  As a token of our appreciation for our local health-system pharmacies’ dedication, we will be sending gift cards to institutions to be used to purchase treats for pharmacy staff.  As a member of WMSHP, if you would like to join this committee and assist with their future events/activities, please email leadership@wmshp.net

Reminder: The Michigan Pharmacists Association Annual Convention and Exposition (MPA ACE) will be taking place virtually this upcoming weekend February 26 – 27, 2021.  I hope you strongly consider joining in this educational and networking opportunity.  As an organization, WMSHP will be adopting four students this year for the Adopt-A-Student networking event during the MPA ACE.  Each of these students will have a networking opportunity with a WMSHP member via Zoom.  Three members of WMSHP will also represent our organization at the House of Delegates at the MPA ACE.  For more information on the MPA ACE please visit MPA Virtual Annual Convention & Exposition (michiganpharmacists.org).

Happy New Year!  I would like to start off by saying thank you to all of you for the opportunity to serve as your next President this year, and thank you to Kyle and Stacy for setting great examples for me the past two years.  Last year looked a lot different than anticipated for us and I am hopeful for what this year has in store.

We started off the year with our first virtual CE presentation on January 7^th.  Emily D’Anna, PharmD, CPPS, gave an excellent presentation on medication safety entitled “Preventing Errors is Not Perfection.” On February 11^th, we will hold our next virtual CE presentation on “Antifungal Pharmacotherapy Concepts.”  This will be presented by Bryant Froberg, PharmD, PGY-2 Infectious Disease Resident at Munson Medical Center.

At our first Board meeting of the year, it was decided that our Spring Seminar for 2021 will be held virtually this year.  We received great feedback regarding our virtual seminar last September, and we plan on providing the same level of quality this year.  Traditionally this seminar has taken place in May, and we are happy to report it will be this year as well.  Mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 11^th!  Registration will be posted on www.wmshp.net at a later date.

The new year also brought newly elected WMSHP board members.  Your newly elected board members for 2021 are:

President-Elect 2021: Sarah Hoerner

Secretary 2021 – 2022: Brad Miller (Incumbent)

Board Members 2021 – 2022:

• ·         Shelby Kelsh (Incumbent)
• ·         Derek Vander Horst (Incumbent)
• ·         Amy Quinones
• ·         Kwanta Wu

Resident-at-Large: Ashley Blanchette (Spectrum Health PGY1)

Reminder to Pharmacy Residents: Research abstracts are due to Andrea Borst (andrea.borst@spectrumhealth.org) by February 5^th for an opportunity to present your research project to our membership.  Each year WMSHP selects two residents to share their research at our April meeting.  This is a great opportunity to practice your presentation before the Great Lakes conference!

President-Elect (2021):

Sarah Hoerner is a clinical pharmacist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, with interests in hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant. She is a Michigan native who grew up in the metro-Detroit area. After graduating from Concordia University Wisconsin with her PharmD, Sarah completed a PGY-1 residency at Spectrum Health. Following residency, she stayed on at the children’s hospital. She has been a member of WMSHP since moving to west Michigan in 2015, and has served as a board member for several terms. In her free time she enjoys figure skating, spending time outdoors, knitting, and trying new restaurants and breweries.

Secretary (2021-22):

Brad Miller is an Informatics Pharmacist at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids (but really spends all of his time working from home, thanks to COVID). He graduated from Ferris State University in 2002, and completed a Pharmacy Practice Residency at Spectrum Health. He has worked as the Pharmacy Director at Pennock Hospital in Hastings, and as Lead Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Emergency Medicine at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. Brad has been the WMSHP Secretary since 2004, so it's a good thing for him that there aren't term limits in this organization.

Board Members (2021-22):

Shelby Kelsh graduated from SUNY-Buffalo with her PharmD and moved to Western Michigan to complete her PGY1 at Spectrum Health. She joined WMSHP as a resident and has been a member since. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Ferris State University. She holds a clinical practice site at Spectrum Health Internal Medicine Residency Clinic as an ambulatory care pharmacist. Shelby has had the pleasure of serving as a WMSHP board member since January 2019. Over the last two years, Shelby has coordinated multiple CE events and the WMSHP/FSU Residency Showcase. Please consider re-electing Shelby to the board, so she can continue serving this great organization.

Amy Quinones is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Internal Medicine at Borgess Medical Center in Kalamazoo MI. She was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, Canada and completed part of her undergraduate training at Lake Superior State University. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from Ferris State University in 2008. She has been an active member of WMSHP for many years and would love the opportunity to serve on the board to further her involvement. Her current areas of interest include oncology, infectious disease, diabetes, and neurology.

Derek Vander Horst is a native resident of west Michigan, currently residing in Grand Rapids. He obtained his PharmD from Ferris State University in 2015; and then completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency and a PGY2 Infectious Diseases Pharmacy Residency at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City. He currently serves as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in adult infectious diseases at Spectrum Health. Derek achieved board certification in pharmacotherapy and infectious diseases pharmacotherapy in 2016 and 2018 respectively. He is an active member of the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP), serving on the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee since its inception; and also served as the secretary of the Northern Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists (NMSHP) in 2016. He is excited about the opportunity to continue to serve his community as a WMSHP board member for a second term.

Kwanta Wu is the Pharmacy Manager at Ascension Borgess Lee Hospital, a critical access hospital located in Dowagiac, MI. Prior to that, Kwanta served as the Director of Pharmacy at a long term acute care hospital in Indiana for 9 years. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree, completed a PGY1 General Practice Residency and a Nephrology Research Fellowship from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Pharmacy. She is also board certified in Pharmacotherapy (BCPS) and Geriatric Pharmacy (BCGP). Although new to the Michigan pharmacy world, working in a rural, critical access hospital like Borgess Lee has brought her long term interests in transitions of care and opioid stewardship to the forefront. If selected to be a board member, broadening her network and collaborating with other organizations in Michigan is her key goal. Outside work, tennis is her passion, with a few of the USTA league championships under her belt.

Early last month we hosted our annual WMSHP/FSU Residency Showcase with a little twist of the virtual variety. The event was a great success with 25 programs, representing 4 states, and over 70 prospective residents that attended! Thank you to all who participated and to especially to those who were integral in making the first virtual residency showcase a successful event. Later in October, we also held our first virtual CE of the year on a very relevant and emerging topic. Thank you to Giulia Barlow for sharing her unique perspective and expertise on the abuse potential of gabapentinoids!

We will be continuing our virtual CE meetings with Spectrum Health’s PGY-2 Ambulatory Care Reisdent, Juan Reyes, PharmD, who will be presenting "'Relax, take a deep breath. Everything will be fine.' -Your inhaler" on November 12^th. We look forward to seeing all of you virtually!

Board elections are fast approaching and we plan to open the polls for membership voting starting on October 29^th. Please keep an eye out for more information on the candidates, which will be posted on the website and emailed to active members for consideration. The voting period will end just prior to our November 12^th meeting, so make sure you cast your votes!

If you have not already done so, please make sure you set up an account online with our CE provider, WMed, prior to attending our monthly meetings. If you need assistance, please consult our website’s Help page at https://wmshp.net/help, or you can view the instructional videos on WMed’s website at https://wmed.cloud-cme.com/default.aspx?P=2000.

If you would like more information about WMSHP, please visit our website at www.wmshp.net.

Earlier this month, we successfully delivered our 51^st Annual Spring Seminar over a virtual format. This meeting is typically held in May but due to the extenuating circumstances of the pandemic, the conference was first delayed and then transitioned to a live, virtual format. There were some great presentations from highly accomplished speakers, as well as some great opportunities for industry networking. In addition, WMSHP presented two scholarships to local P3 pharmacy students. Congratulations to Tayler Jones, who received a $1000 scholarship, and Dawn Nguyen, who received a $500 scholarship! A huge thank you to all who participated, especially the Board of the organization for planning and executing a successful event!

As we progress through these uncertain times, we are continuing to deliver our programming virtually. On October 1^st, in collaboration with Ferris State University’s College of Pharmacy, we will host our annual pharmacy residency showcase. This too will be conducted in a virtual format. More information on the event can be found at https://wmshp.net/event-3957805.

October will also mark the resumption of our monthly CE meetings. The next scheduled meeting for WMSHP will be held on October 15^th with Mercy Health Saint Mary’s Psychiatry Clinical Pharmacist, Giulia Barlow, PharmD, BCPS presenting “Gabapentinoids: Unnerving Trends in Misuse and Abuse”. Subsequent monthly meetings will continue at the normal regularly scheduled intervals with the plans for most to be delivered virtually.

It’s almost time for our annual WMSHP Board elections.  If you are interested in becoming more involved in WMSHP by running for a Board position, please contact me or any other member of the Board.  The deadline for nominations, including a brief applicant bio, is Friday, October 9^th.

We look forward to continuing to meet your needs as a member of our organization and hope to "see" each of you at our upcoming meetings!

Best Regards,
Kyle