2023 Pinnacle Awards
The APhA Foundation celebrated the 26th Annual Pinnacle Awards Program at APhA Headquarters. Learn more about the 2023 Pinnacle Award Recipients, view images from the awards presentation, and watch a video of the Innovations in Pharmacy Practice Lecture.
Click below to read the press release
Click through the images from the Pinnacle Awards
Stephen F. Eckel
Stephen F. Eckel is the Associate Dean for Global Engagement at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He is also an associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education (PACE). In addition, he is director of the two-year Master of Science in pharmaceutical sciences with a specialization in health-system pharmacy administration. This degree is hosted at various sites across the country. At UNC Medical Center, he is residency program director of the 2-year program in health-system pharmacy administration. He has worked with almost 250 residents over the years.
As an innovator and entrepreneur Eckel spearheaded the development of UNC Pharmacy Grand Rounds with ASHP and launched ChemoGLO, LLC with Bill Zamboni, PharmD, PhD. He also founded Assure Technologies, LLC, which is developing the Precynge medical device and Aseptique. He is the previous editor of the health-system edition of Pharmacy Times and a passionate supporter of the role of the pharmacist and the use of technology in patient care. He conducts and publishes his research and is frequently asked to speak around the world on these issues.
Eckel has been very active in the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists, serving in the past as President. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. In 2012, he was presented by APhA the Distinguished Achievement Award in Hospital and Institutional Practice and in 2013, he was awarded the Excellence in Innovation award by NCAP. In 2015, the ASHP Foundation awarded him the Pharmacy Residency Excellence Preceptor Award. He is a Fellow of ASHP, APhA, ACCP, NCAP, and the National Academies of Practice in Pharmacy.
Category 1 Award:
Individual Award for Career Achievement
"I am very humbled to receive the 2023 APhA Foundation Pinnacle Award. I have focused my practice, education, and research on improving the medication use process in various settings. As a long-time member of APhA, it is always gratifying to be recognized by your peers and this honor provides energy to keep fighting on improving the use of medicines in all practice sites."
Category 2 Award:
Group Practice–Health System–Health Care Corporation
"Correct Rx is humbled and honored to be recognized with this most prestigious Pinnacle award. It offers validation that our commitment to the pharmacy profession through the robust provision of clinical pharmacy services to this underserved population has not only improved health outcomes but positively impacts public health in the communities we serve."
Correct Rx Pharmacy Services
Correct Rx is a national leader in correctional and clinical pharmacy services headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. Correct Rx was founded in 2003 by three pharmacists and has been providing services for over 20 years. They currently furnish services to over 200,000 incarcerated patients in over 400 correctional and juvenile facilities. They are licensed in 49 states and currently deliver correctional pharmacy services in 35 states and Washington, D.C.
Correct Rx’s unique corporate vision is based on the practice of clinical pharmacy; collaborating with the interdisciplinary healthcare teams to manage a patient’s health rather than strictly filling prescriptions. Their clinical pharmacy delivery model deploys Clinical Pharmacists working directly with providers and patients in correctional health care arena.
Category 3 Award:
Nonprofit Organization–Association–Public/Private Partnerships
"The entire team at St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy in Cincinnati, Ohio is overjoyed to accept such a prestigious award recognizing excellence in the medication use process. We thank God for His divine intervention that brought together the right people, resources, and need to not only dispense free medications but to show positive health outcomes in an underserved population. Thank you all involved at APhA for highlighting our outcomes-based community care model on a national level!"
St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul - Cincinnati (SVDP) is a network of neighbors, inspired by Gospel values, growing in holiness and building a more just world through personal relationships with and service to people in need. St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy is one component of the Society and is dedicated to the unique mission of providing free pharmaceutical care to people in need who have no other way to access their prescription medications. The Charitable Pharmacy helps patients achieve positive health outcomes that lead to improved quality of life while also lowering healthcare costs to care for the underserved across this community. Since opening in 2006, the Charitable Pharmacy has dispensed over 717,000 free prescriptions, with a value exceeding $99MM.
Each patient receiving free prescription medications at the Charitable Pharmacy also receives clinical services to promote improved health outcomes. Through Comprehensive Medication Management (CMM) services, SVDP pharmacists conduct comprehensive medication reviews twice annually with each patient, along with routine follow up. Because of this program, patients improve medication adherence and visit the emergency room and hospital less often, preventing over $3 million in healthcare costs annually.
Underserved residents receiving care at the Charitable Pharmacy experience a holistic approach to care and professional health education. These services are provided at no charge to patients and include:
Prescription medications with ongoing refills for acute and chronic health conditions
Comprehensive Medication Management services by licensed pharmacists and pharmacy interns
Primary care and point-of-care laboratory services by a licensed nurse practitioner
Chronic disease management services, including diabetes self-management education and tobacco cessation by licensed healthcare professionals
Screenings for social determinants of health and resource connection by patient advocates
Health insurance application assistance by a licensed insurance navigator
View remarks from each awardee and the Pinnacle Awards Innovations in Pharmacy Practice Lecture, "Breaking Barriers for Underserved and incarcerated Populations," presented by Drs. Kareem Karara and Hui W. Seo of Correct Rx Pharmacy Services.