To serve more patients and meet the growing need for specialty, home delivery, and pharmacy business services, UVA Health is creating a Pharmacy Centralized Services Center in northern Albemarle County.
The center will span 40,000 square feet of existing space at North Fork, the University of Virginia’s discovery park, and is scheduled to open in January. To support the expansion, UVA Health expects to add 50 jobs, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians along with supply chain and information technology specialists.
“This expansion will enable us to provide industry leading specialty and ambulatory pharmacy services to more patients – in addition to the 35,000 patients we now care for – across UVA Health’s medical centers and clinics around Virginia, as well as through our home delivery programs that reach 16 states,” said Joshua Weber, PharmD, MBA-HCM, CSP, BCMTMS, 340B ACE, director of UVA Health’s specialty and home delivery pharmacy services. “This expansion is the next step in cementing UVA Health as a national leader in pharmacy innovation.”
The centralized services center will include a state-of-the-art automation system that will help the pharmacy team process up to 4,000 prescriptions per shift, Weber said, getting patients their medications sooner leading to better adherence and ultimately better health outcomes while also improving the pharmacy’s efficiency.
“The UVA Health Pharmacy Central Services Center will expand and enhance pharmacy services for patients of UVA pharmacies, as well as those receiving care at any UVA Health clinic or hospital. This state-of-the-art facility strengthens our ability to meet the growing medication needs of patients across UVA Health,” said Danielle Griggs, PharmD, MBA, MS, UVA Health’s chief pharmacy officer.
Mitchell H. Rosner, MD, UVA’s acting executive vice president for health affairs, called the pharmacy expansion a major milestone for the health system.
“Expanding our specialty and home delivery pharmacy services will help us better serve patients across Virginia and beyond, while also providing more residents of Central Virginia a path to build careers at UVA Health,” he said.
Recruitment is under way for 18 pharmacy technician positions, Weber said. Hiring is expected to open this summer for additional positions, he said, including in supply chain, business services, information technology and pharmacy support roles.
A virtual hiring event is scheduled from noon-4 p.m. April 25, with an in-person hiring event slated for 2-5 p.m. May 1 at North Fork (1725 Discovery Dr., Suite 200). For more information on these events and roles at the pharmacy center, please visit careers.uvahealth.org and search “pharmacy.”
