S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2016
7
Pharmacy fills up to 1,950 prescriptions a week
PHARMACY continued
from front page
each change with the best interests
of the membership and community
in mind while keeping patient safe-
ty as her foremost objective.
“The goal is to let Tribal mem-
bers and the community know
what transitions we have made
and are going to make in the Phar-
macy,” said Lynch. “We have been
changing our work flow to increase
patient safety and prescription
ethicacy. We’re asking for people’s
understanding and patience as we
go through our transitions.”
Lynch said recent turnover in
several staff positions that required
new employees to obtain training
and learn a new, upgraded phar-
macy data management system
are among reasons patients have
experienced longer than usual
waits recently.
The situation was mentioned by
a Tribal Elder at the Wednesday,
Nov. 16, Tribal Council meeting
when she said that she had to wait
until the next morning to have a
prescription filled. The Elder said
she had not had to wait that long
before and she was concerned.
Tribal member and Health Ser-
vices Executive Director Kelly
Rowe said she wants people to
understand that not only have
several changes been made to the
Pharmacy to upgrade services, but
also to keep in mind that the winter
months are the busiest times of the
year for pharmacies in general.
“We had two new pharmacists
join the team and they are doing
great, but we do have new staff
and we are looking at work flow to
make things more efficient,” said
Rowe. “That has impacted the pace
of how fast things are coming out.
We are starting to get lines. They
are working through them pretty
quickly, but there have been some
complaints from people having to
wait. There have been some very
profane complaints. So we wanted
to get the word out that we expect
this to get better.
“We are just in this transition
point of new staff, new work flow
and it’s just going to take a bit for
things to settle some.”
The Pharmacy fills as many as
600 prescriptions a day on Monday
and Tuesday and 250 to 400 a day
on Wednesday through Friday, said
Tribal member and Lead Pharmacy
Technician Kandee Little.
On Monday and Tuesday, the
Pharmacy fills an average of 77
prescriptions an hour, which is
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Stephanie Wolfe, a pharmacy technician at the Tribe’s Pharmacy, pulls
medications from the shelves to fill prescriptions at the Grand Ronde Health
& Wellness Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
more than one a minute.
Little said she thinks the changes
made at the Pharmacy and clinic as
a whole are positive and she said
she is buying in to those changes
even though she has had to change
her work schedule after eight years
of working 10-hour shifts. She now
works five eight hour shifts.
“I absolutely think it is for the
best,” said Little. “Now we are
having more theraputical, clinical
work to make sure that people are
being safe with their medications.
We’re actually making sure they
know how to take it, what they are
taking it for and making sure they
are being safe.”
Little said she thinks the recent
problems come from frustrated
Tribal members who are used to
getting in line and being on their
way 20 minutes later.
“It’s not like that anymore,” said
Little. “We want to make sure we
are bettering them and their health
in the long run.”
Little said the process of filling
a prescription may be more compli-
cated than most people think and
that as the program has evolved
along with the general health sys-
tem, more processes have been put
in place to ensure patient safety.
“We have to do a lot of steps to get
it prepared,” said Little. “We have
to push it through insurances and
make sure everything is correct
looking on there with a doctor and
directions and quantity and then
it goes on back to the pharmacist.
They have to make sure everything
is correct. They count it and make
CTGR Higher Education
Program deadlines set
There are now only two Higher Education programs depending on
whether you are full-time or part-time. The deadline for the Full-Time
College program is at least 30 days before the start of classes. The
deadline for the Part-Time College program is at least 10 days before
the start of class.
Visit the Tribal website for more program information and an applica-
tion. www.grandronde.org/departments/education/higher-education/
sure we have the right bottle. It
takes a process.”
Little said patients receiving
narcotic drugs have their doses
triple-counted.
“We really do care. It’s just taking
us a little bit longer to do things
now,” said Little. “It’s definitely a
good thing. I think the changes are
great. I really do. It’s not just the
patients; we are all adapting to the
changes. It’ll get there.”
Tribal Council Vice Chair Cheryle
A. Kennedy, who was the Tribe’s
first Health director and estab-
lished the Pharmacy, said she
remembers facing the same issues
in the early days as well.
“The key word that comes to mind
is patience,” said Kennedy. “Tribal
Council is very concerned about our
people and their health care. It’s
always been No. 1 priority for our
members. Having worked there and
having set up the system years ago
we didn’t have the volume that we
do now. We had people who would
demand ‘right now’ and who used
the same kind of behaviors to try
to get something, and once I knew
I would come downstairs and talk
to the individual and diffuse the
situation.”
Rowe said that Tribal and com-
munity members can visit her office
upstairs with concerns and that she
and Tribal member and Quality
Improvement Manager Dawn Doar
will hear out all issues and try to
resolve those issues and improve
the service overall.
“I just want people to be respect-
ful,” said Rowe. “We want to get
the message out that we are trying
and they have picked up a lot. We
are trying to make it as efficient as
possible.
“We need people to try and be
patient, but we know that’s hard
especially when you don’t feel good.
I would rather have people come up
here and talk to me or Dawn about
what the issue is. Hopefully this
will help people understand this is
a temporary thing. We are really
trying.”
Kennedy said her desire is to see
patients access Rowe and Doar
before negatively engaging Phar-
macy staff.
“I would say patience is the best
rule right now, but I also under-
stand that people need their med-
ication,” said Kennedy. “We have
people who have chronic disorders.
They cannot go without their med-
ication. So I would urge any of our
members who use our Pharmacy to
please talk with Kelly – she is open
to that. She will take every call and
she will work on it.”
Fullerton said people accessing
the clinic and Pharmacy should
plan ahead for winter weather and
also consider and realize the benefit
to the community that is being of-
fered by having a wellness facility.
“We didn’t open the Pharmacy
or the clinic to make money,” said
Fullerton. “So it’s about quality.
Let’s talk about the convenience
of having a pharmacy in this com-
munity. Maybe we have to stand
in lines, but I don’t have to drive to
McMinnville, I don’t have to drive
to Salem. It’s an overall service to
the community. It’s an absolute
convenience.”
Little said she wishes there were
more hours in a day so she could
help more people. She said she sees
her fellow staff members feeling the
same way about their jobs.
“The girls up front (manning the
patient window) make it look easy
because they are good at making
it look easy, but behind that it’s
tough; we’re bookin’ ” said Little.
Lynch said patients can ensure
faster service if they follow some
simple guidelines, such as patients
calling in a mail-order prescription
need to call those prescriptions in
seven days in advance.
“We ask that after they call that
they give us five business days
before they call and check on the
status of that prescription because
it can take up to five business days
for the mail service to get it to
them,” said Lynch.
She said mail can take even lon-
ger during the holiday season and
that patients need to be aware of
that potential delay.
“We don’t want anyone to go with-
out their medications,” said Lynch,
who also implemented tracking of
mail-order prescription packages in
early October.
Lynch said she will be making
more changes in the coming months
that will include streamlining the
phone call-in system and becoming
more efficient with the current
e-prescription service.
The pharmacy now requires 48
to 72 hours to refill a prescription.
“People can call in refills seven
days in advance and we will just
have them ready for pickup; that
way there is less waiting out in the
lobby,” said Lynch.
Lynch said she wants to reassure
Tribal members that the changes
are for the best and that they are
safer because of those changes.
“We’ve hired some really amazing
people so I’m confident that the
learning curve will work,” Lynch
said. “Our thought is that if we all
work together with mutual under-
standing and respect then we are
going to increase that growth and
ensure our success.”