NJSHP Spring Bulletin


Helen LoSasso, NJSHP State Treasurer



If you want to talk to a woman who has balanced an exciting pharmacy career with motherhood, then Helen LoSasso is the person! Helen is living proof that pharmacy is an ideal profession to balance the joys and demands of being a mother while excelling in a dynamic career. Motherhood and a strong professional drive motivated her to be the best she could be in her personal life and career. She became a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist through the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties in 1995 and then received her Pharm.D. degree in 1999, all while rearing her two children, Denise and Paul. Helen was able to work as a pharmacist during graveyard shifts at Underwood Memorial Hospital and Burdette Tomlin Hospital while her husband managed evening child care. During the days, Helen was able to be a stay-at-home-mom while preparing for her exams. She’s the clinical manager at Kennedy Health System and it’s a post she has loved for the last five years. As her chief responsibility to develop clinical programs for the System, she has worked on engaging projects like therapeutic drug monitoring for ambulatory dialysis patients, implementing warfarin patient teaching and a therapeutic exchange program. She enjoys working with her staff and offers nuturing advice that sometimes management isn’t for everyone. She also stresses to her younger pharmacists the importance of balancing work with family and the need to set realistic goals in both arenas. Helen’s own balancing act has helped her to be sensitive to the flex hour needs of her team members. Helen has applied her skills at Underwood Memorial and Burdette Tomlin, New Jersey’s more southern hospitals. She openly admits that some of her previous pharmacy positions weren’t the best fit on her career path. She remembers a clinical position at Taylor Hospital in which she wasn’t as prepared as she thought she was initially to develop clinical programs. She quickly realized that strong drug skills weren’t enough to be successful. Helen took the learning lesson that came with the position and worked to advance her clinical knowledge by working toward her BCPS and Pharm.D. Even now in her current position, Helen admits that obtaining managerial skills has not been quite easy and she has depended on several nurse managers, administrators and pharmacy directors to mentor her.		She acknowledges that every day she is still learning. Inspiration for Helen came in several ways. Her love and acumen for the sciences started at Archbishop Prendergast High School. Additionally, her father, a Septa bus driver, fueled Helen’s ambition by delivering a strong message about the value of getting a good education. Helen’s first pharmacy position was at Riddle Memorial, just outside of Philadelphia, under the direction of Ed Sabatini, her inspiring mentor. Mr. Sabatini instilled a strong work ethic in doing a job well and properly. Also, let’s not underestimate the inspirational power that the tender eyes her two small children had on her. Helen would love to see pharmacy schools help students develop greater empathy for patients. She feels students are at a real disadvantage because they don’t have this natural patient interaction. It’s difficult for patients to take several medications and process all the information that goes with this. She also feels that courses that deal with patient interaction will help to engage pharmacy students as better interdisciplinary team members within their organization. NJSHP has been a meaningful experience for her and she is actively involved in the Society. Currently she is the Secretary for the State Chapter and has been the Treasurer for the Southern Chapter. Her experience in an NJSHP Board position has helped her to realize the exceptional talents and character that the officers exhibit. She singles out Rob Adamson’s great advice and motivation as well as Joe Walker’s high energy level and is quick to say that there are so many other talented people that she has encountered at NJSHP. The road in Helen’s life is moving fast. With her children now grown, she and her husband as empty nesters are enjoying more free time. She cites a fun road trip recently with her entire family as they traveled across the U.S. and down south. She loves to knit and work out. So if you haven’t seen her in a while, you may just not recognize her and walk right by her. In the spirit of maintaining good health, she embarked on a weight loss program and has dropped 70 lbs! She enlisted the help of a personal trainer and can now be devotedly found at her gym a huge 6 times a week. Way to go for Helen and we know that she will continue to keep going in all the aspects of her rich life, both professionally and personally!

Mary Barna and Patrick Bridgeman
At ASHP’s 40th Annual Midyear Clinical Meeting, held in Las Vegas this year, we competed in the National Clinical Skills Competition on behalf of Rutgers University’s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. Out of 82 schools in the country and against strong competition, Rutgers placed in the top ten, under the guidance and coaching of Dr. Jacqueline Olin and the faculty at Rutgers. The competition began in October, when 15 teams at Rutgers vied for the local championship position, which guaranteed the winner a trip to nationals in Las Vegas, taking place in December as part of the midyear meeting. We took the championship at the local level and went on to represent Rutgers in Las		Vegas. Cheered on byacademic advisors, faculty, and a well-represented number of fellow students, our team placed among the top ten in the nation. At both the local and national level, the competition centered around a written patient care plan, in which students were given a case scenario and two hours to identify patient’s problems, pharmacotherapeutic needs, and outcomes. At the national level, our team was given the opportunity to verbally present our therapeutic recommendations to a panel of judges, and then respond to judge’s rapid-fire questions related to the case. Butler University placed first in the competition, but our team felt like winners. In the competition’s		Mary Barna and Patrick Bridgeman placed in the Top Ten for the National Clinical Skills Competition in Las Vegas. ten year history, this is the first time that Rutgers placed among the top ten. The faculty and team members couldn’t have been more pleased! Rutgers Among Top Ten in Las Vegas Continued on page 4


Congratulations to the newly elected ASHP State of New Jersey Delegates. It’s an honor and major responsibility to be selected for the four available New Jersey seats. These delegates will convene, along with other state delegates, in Orlando in June. During their two year term, delegates will debate and vote on changes in ASHP policy statements, by-laws, regulations, and other new business that presents itself to the floor. These policies establish how NJSHP responds to federal and state legislation, how “best practices” are advanced in hospital pharmacies, and how guidelines are established for pharmacy practitioners. Let your voice be heard through your delegates. Don’t hesitate to contact them and inform them about the issues that are most important to you. Take a moment to get to know your delegates more closely: Charles Arrison Charles currently serves as Director of Pharmacy at Deborah Heart and Lung Center where he directs the departments of Sterile Processing, Supply and Patient Transport and Receiving. Charles is a past president of NJSHP and has served in various officer positions for NJSHP over the last 12 years. This is Charles’ third time as a Delegate. Charles can be reached at ArrisonC@Deborah.org.	Eric Hola Eric Hola currently serves as Pharmacy Director for Saint Barnabas Medical Center. He is responsible for all distributive and patient care functions of the Pharmacy Department. Saint Barnabas uses automated dispensing devices to service all patient areas, with on-unit pharmacists to assist patient care personnel in providing medications. Specialty services are provided to NICU, oncology and critically ill patients. Eric is not a newcomer to the ASHP delegate scene and has held this post for the last 8 years. He served on ASHP’s Council on Organizational Affairs and acted as Chairperson for the Board of Canvasers. In 1998 he was the NJSHP President, and was awarded the Gregory Santora Leadership Award in 1999. Eric’s e-mail address is EHola@SBHCS.com. Russ Lazzaro As Holy Name Hospital Pharmacy Director for the last 20 years, Russ has seen his department advance from a part-time pharmacy to a full IV additive, 24/7 clinical department. Russ works with his 50 employees in these four major areas. His department is working towards an automated dispensing function with the goal to move pharmacists closer to patients. Additionally, Russ is working	with Nursing and IS to develop a bar code point of care scanning program. Currently, Holy Name’s IS Department has already created a program that scans all physicians’ order to pharmacy linking the orders to the patient’s pharmacy profile and automatically prints allergies on blank orders. In the past, Russ has served as a state delegate and thanks the NJSHP membership for giving him the opportunity to represent his state and member concerns again. Contact Russ at lazzaro@mail.holyname.org. Andre Emont Andre is currently Director of Pharmaceutical Services at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Andre is proud to admit that his staff is actively engaged in assuring that pharmacy practice meets as well as exceeds all quality professional practice standards. As President of the North Central Chapter of NJSHP, he is very excited about being selected as a Delegate and intends to remain dedicated by being a vocal participant in bringing positive change and advancement for the pharmacy profession. Andre can be contacted at emontaj@umdnj.edu. NJSHP also congratulates ASHP Alternate Delegates, Carlo Lupano and Marsha Durniak.