2024 KCHP Presidential Address - Christopher Bell, PharmD, MS

While I am fortunate to know many of our KCHP members, I thought it best to provide a little  background about myself. I am a lifelong Kansan and bleed crimson & blue – in more ways than one. I take great pride in having graduated a Jayhawk. Not only did the school provide me with an education, great memories, and an opportunity for a fulfilling career, but it is also where I met my wife. The KU School of Pharmacy has given me much to be grateful for - nothing more so than what would become the beginning of my family which is, and always will be, my greatest accomplishment. 

I grew up in a largely blue-collar family where learning how to fix things was a way of life. My introduction to pharmacy was through my mother, who spent several years as a pharmacy technician in both community and acute care settings. Learning about the impact of pharmacy, and specifically technicians, had a lasting impact and influence on how I view pharmacy practice to this day. Those learnings fostered in me a passion to continually find ways to improve pharmacy practice. Throughout my career in roles with Advent Health, The University of Kansas Health System, and now with the Ascension Health System, I have applied a continuous improvement mindset to leverage automation allowing pharmacists to practice at the top of their license, improve processes to increase safety and efficiency of pharmaceutical care, and advance pharmacy technicians. As I have tried to do over the last few years in my roles within KCHP, my intent is to push and challenge our organization to continue adapting and improving the value we provide to members.

With that in mind, I’d like to focus on a couple strategic opportunities I see for KCHP in the coming year. It is likely not a surprise to many that KCHP has seen a decline in membership over the last several years. As we all know, so much about health care has changed - particularly over the last 4 years. Many factors have driven people away from the profession and that has impacted our membership base. It is incumbent upon us to attract new members intentionally and strategically, as well as retain our current ones. Members are the lifeblood of any organization’s success, succession planning, and stability. KCHP has so much to offer pharmacists, technicians, and other pharmacy support personnel – we must continually find ways to market and connect with people across our state. In my time on the KCHP Board over the last 3 years, much progress has been made to modernize and connect with members. We must continue those efforts. This is an area I intend to make a continued priority going forward.

As part of our membership growth, we must continue to connect with pharmacy technicians and others who support pharmacy practice. As I referenced earlier, I have personal connection and motivation to elevate the roles of technicians. Technicians are the key and heartbeat to keeping pharmacies operational and supporting pharmacists in patient care. KCHP has great resources in place today and I am proud of the fact that we have a technician board role. Over the coming year, my hope is to continue developing specific points of connection to not only create value for pharmacy technicians as members but to elevate their voice. 

To make progress on any strategy, a sound and stable organizational foundation is key. KCHP has seen multiple changes in organizational support over the last 12 months and re-establishing firm footing is important to our short-, and long-term future. We have a great group of volunteers helping us to find a management partner who can support and grow along with us. While that committee is working on the behalf of KCHP, the Board will manage much of the day-to-day operations of the organization. With that in mind – I do have an ask of you as members: stay engaged and connected with us. Ask questions and let us know what is, or isn’t, working for you. As I stated before – engagement and retention of our members is key to our success, and we welcome you to connect with us along the way.

I’d like to end by expressing gratitude to those who have helped me on my journey. Throughout my career I have benefited from the nudges, wisdom, and kicks in the butt from people who care about my success. Others that have seen things in me that I was blind to. At the risk of leaving many people out, I do want to thank a few specific influential people to my career. To Rick Couldry, Samaneh Wilkinson, Brian O’Neal, John Worden, Leigh Anne Scott, and Harold Godwin: thank you for showing a relatively clueless student a path to grow and be successful. I wouldn’t be here without your support nearly 17 years ago. To our 2023-2024 KCHP Exec Board (Brian Gilbert, Kevin Mahler, and Katie Wilson): I learned so much from each of you this last year. Thank you for having hard conversations in an effort to make KCHP, and each other, better. To Katie specifically: thank you for your mentorship and steady hand over the last year. Your positivity, hard work, and grace through adversity is something we should all strive to emulate. And, finally, thank you to you all for entrusting me to be your president. I am humbled and honored to serve you.