The MercyOne pharmacy team has always been an essential part of the care team. When the pandemic hit, their role became even more critical. They have been involved in an enormous range of projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The earliest projects were related to supply shortage. They were primarily focused on making sure MercyOne had a sufficient supply of medications and supplies as they prepared for a potential surge of patients with COVID-19. As the supply of hand sanitizer reached critical levels, they innovated by partnering with a local distillery to compound hand sanitizer, which was used by hospital staff and sold in the outpatient pharmacies to patients and community members.
The outpatient pharmacies added curbside pickup and same-day delivery options, and also worked with the hospital and clinic staffs to provide no-contact discharge medication delivery. They added rapid COVID-19 testing at MercyOne Elm Pharmacy, and MercyOne Long Term Care Pharmacy partnered with facilities to provide COVID-19 emergency boxes as they dealt with an increasing number of patients affected by the pandemic in their facilities.
The pharmacy team played an important role in making sure that the nursing and medical staff had access to the medications that they needed when COVID-19 numbers were surging. They deployed additional automated dispensing machines to the COVID-19 units and compounded remdesivir and bamlanivimab infusions, two keys medications used to treat COVID-19 positive patients.
And now, coming full circle, the pharmacy team is playing a central role in the vaccine rollout for MercyOne and the community.
To read this and other featured articles in their entirety, pickup the May 2021 issue of Julien’s Journal magazine. Click to subscribe for convenient delivery by mail, or call (563) 557-1914. Single issues are also available in print at area newsstands and digitally via the Issuu platform.
