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2021 ICHP Annual Meeting Recap
A Virtual Success
by Melissa Dyrdahl, BA; Communications Manager, ICHP
Another Annual Meeting is in the books! We had truly hoped to be meeting face to face in 2021, but with COVID-19 cases rising across Illinois and the more contagious delta variant running rampant, the ICHP executive board made the tough decision to take us virtual. Once the decision was made, ICHP staff did a complete 180-degree pivot from in-person planning to virtual planning - thankfully, we’d had a few virtual ventures under our belts at this point. It was a true team effort (with the bonus support of student intern Matthew Smith from UIC), and we were all quite pleased with what we were able to pull off in just two and a half weeks.
This year’s meeting included up to 17.75 contact hours of CPE credit for pharmacists and 14.0 contact hours for pharmacy technicians! A total of 328 pharmacists, technicians, and students registered for the meeting and joined us for top-notch educational sessions, the installation of ICHP and affiliate officers, a town hall meeting, and our awards ceremony. We even offered our residency showcase program for students, featuring 25 hospitals and health-systems from around the Midwest and a reverse exhibit for our industry representatives (we capped out at 60 reps!)
Our keynote presentation was a definite showstopper! Dr. Ayesha Khan and Dr. Lalita Prasad-Reddy talked about Precepting and Teaching in 2021 – focusing on implicit bias, macroaggressions, and systemic racism in healthcare. This was one of the few programs we were able to record from this year’s meeting – we’re hoping to offer it to you as a home study to fulfill the new implicit bias credit requirement – more details to come!
The 2021 Annual Meeting marked the transition of Jen Arnoldi’s role of president to immediate-past-president and the start of Kathryn Schultz’s reign as ICHP president (check out her inaugural address in the President’s Message column and soon to be available on our YouTube channel!)
Other new ICHP Board members installed included:
- Treasurer - Bernice Man
- Director, Professional Affairs - Megan Corrigan
- Director, Organizational Affairs - Lara Ellinger
- Director, Government Affairs - Peter Couri
- Northern Region Director - Jason Orr
- Central Region Director - Karin Terry
- Southern Region Director - Erika Diericx
- Chair, New Practitioners Network - Justin Moore
The following affiliate officers were also installed:
Metro East Society Officers:
President - Jared Sheley
Northern Illinois Society officers:
- President - Jason Alegro
- President-elect - Lalita Prasad-Reddy
- Immediate Past President - Andrew Merker
- Treasurer - Brian Cryder
- Technician Representative - Glen Gard
Sangamiss Society Officers:
- President - Kayla DuBois
- President-elect - Katelyn Fryman
- Immediate Past President - Ashlie Kallal
West Central Society Officer:
Rock Valley Society Officer:
In addition, Hina Patel was appointed as chair of ICHP’s Residency Leader’s Network, and Matthew Bizewski was appointed as chair of the Ambulatory Care Network.
Another special moment of the meeting was celebrating those who give their all to ICHP! It was wonderful to be able to award and hear from this year’s award winners. Each one of these award recipients is a true leader in our organization!
ICHP Pharmacist of the Year –
ICHP Amy Lodolce Mentorship Award –
ICHP Honorary Membership –
ICHP Technician of the Year –
ICHP NPN Leadership Award –
ICHP Outstanding Volunteer Award –
ICHP President’s Award –
ICHP Past President’s Award –
ICHP Industry Award –
ICHP Shining Stars -
- Peter Couri
- Bridget Dolan
- Julie Downen
- Mark Greg
- Heather Harper
- Chris Herndon
- Alifiya Hyderi
- Randall Knoebel
- Mary Lee
- Katheryn Madden
- Kayla Muench
- Milena Murray
- Jason Orr
- Jennifer Phillips
- Marianne Pop
- Janki Vyas
- Elise Wozniak
We were also able to present the 2021 Best Practice award to Ron Hartman and his team at OSF Healthcare for their winning program, “Software-Aided Compounding: Adopting Technology to Improve Patient Safety and Documentation.” Patty Kohli, Karin Terry, Liz Harthan, Heather Harper, and Jamie Martin were other contributors to the program. Be sure to take advantage of the homestudy on page 18! The winners received a $1,000 check for their department. Krause Construction sponsored this year’s best practice award!
Speaking of sponsors – no meeting would be possible without contributions from our industry representatives! ICHP uses these funds to help keep meeting attendance registration fees low (and look around at other states…we’ve got GREAT prices for members). We want to send a big thank you to our meeting sponsors (you can find links to their websites on our meeting page:
https://ichpnet.org/events/annual_meeting/.
This year’s Annual Meeting sponsors were:
Diamond
Platinum
Gold
- DrFirst
- Nexus Pharmaceuticals, Inc
- United Pharmacy Staffing
Silver
Another program that keeps attendee costs low is our Reverse Exhibit. This event is always wildly successful in huge part to our Pharmacy Directors! These members graciously give us a large chunk of their workday to make a significant impact on what ICHP can offer its members – so a big round of applause to:
- Matthew Allsbrook
- Erick Borkowski
- Megan Corrigan
- Peter Couri
- Mark Deaton
- Andy Donnelly
- Jeanne Durley
- Tara Gorden
- Mike Guithues
- Luke Herbert
- Rick Jacobson
- Rakesh Jain
- Jason Orr
- William Pong
- Elaine Rodriguez
- Sandy Salverson
- Rishita Shah
- Erin Shaughnessy
- Ehsan Tavassoli
- Jeff Thiel
- Georgeta Titean
- Joe Vadakara
- Thomas Yu
Whether in person or virtual – one thing is for sure – an ICHP Annual Meeting is MUCH MORE than just a way to get your CPE – it’s pharmacy professionals from across the state dedicating their time and energy to advance excellence in the profession. Sound exciting? Want to get involved? Consider joining next year’s Annual Meeting planning committee, submitting a presentation proposal, or even participating in our Spring Meeting poster presentations.
ICHP President Kathryn Schultz’s theme for the upcoming year is “Everybody In” – so what are you waiting for? Jump in!