Director, Pharmacy

The Pharmacy Director, reporting to the CEO, provides leadership, direction, and management of all pharmacy operations for the hospital. Ensures compliance with federal and state regulations, accreditation standards, and best practices while promoting safe medication use, fiscal responsibility, patient safety, and quality outcomes. Serves as the organization's Medication Safety Officer or oversees medication safety initiatives, as applicable.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership and Administration

• Direct all inpatient/hospital outpatient pharmacy operations.
• Develop departmental strategic goals aligned with hospital objectives.
• Provide leadership to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and support staff.
• Recruit, hire, train, mentor, evaluate, and retain pharmacy personnel.

Clinical Pharmacy Services

• Ensure provision of evidence-based pharmaceutical care.
• Oversee clinical pharmacy programs.
• Support antimicrobial stewardship.
• Support opioid stewardship initiatives.

Medication Safety

• Lead medication safety initiatives.
• Oversee adverse drug event reporting.
• Analyze medication errors and implement corrective actions.
• Promote high reliability medication practices.
• Ensure compliance with National Patient Safety Goals.
• Oversee smart infusion pump medication library maintenance.

Regulatory Compliance

Ensure compliance with:

• State Board of Pharmacy regulations
• DEA regulations
• USP <797>, <800>, and applicable USP chapters
• CMS Conditions of Participation
• CIHQ standards
• OSHA requirements
• FDA regulations
• Controlled substance regulations
• Hazardous drug handling standards
• Prepare the department for surveys and inspections.

Pharmacy Operations

• Medication procurement.
• Manage inventory.
• Ensure formulary compliance.
• Direct medication distribution systems.
• Oversee automated dispensing cabinets.
• Ensure medication storage meets regulatory standards.
• Sterile and non-sterile compounding.
• Coordinate medication recalls.
• Maintain drug shortage mitigation strategies.

Financial Management

• Develop and manage annual pharmacy operating and capital budgets.
• Familiarity with HealthTrust or other Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) management
• Participate in 340B oversight if applicable.
• Monitor pharmacy revenue cycle performance.

Quality Improvement

• Develop pharmacy quality indicators.
• Monitor departmental performance metrics.
• Report quality data to leadership.

Pharmacy Informatics

Collaborate with Information Technology to:

• Optimize electronic health record medication workflows.
• Maintain computerized provider order entry (CPOE).
• Optimize clinical decision support.
• Oversee barcode medication administration initiatives.
• Support pharmacy automation.
• Evaluate new pharmacy technologies.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Direct supervision of:

• Staff Pharmacists
• Pharmacy Technicians
• Pharmacy Residents (if applicable)
• Pharmacy Students (as applicable)

Salary range: $150,000 - 170,000.00

Valencia County Hospital is a new 15-bed acute care facility currently under construction in Los Lunas, NM. Owned by Valencia County and operated through a joint venture between Community Hospital Corporation (CHC) and Lovelace Health System, this startup represents a vital investment in rural healthcare and a unique opportunity to build clinical excellence from the ground up.