East Texas

By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer

Renovations of two high-tech pharmacies at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler were completed last month to provide pharmacists with streamlined workspaces and better patient access, hospital officials said this week.

UTHSCT spent $1.9 million to retrofit its inpatient and retail pharmacies where employees now enjoy 30 percent more space and high-tech equipment, spokeswoman Toni Moore said.

The project began in September, and was finished this winter.

"They needed to be updated," Moore said. "Both pharmacists, Drs. Melissa Maeker and Vince Alibrando, said work flows better and the space is more organized."

Employees gathered on Feb. 22 to tour the new pharmacies.

Changes made for the inpatient pharmacy include specially constructed rooms where compounded sterile drugs are prepared; updates were made to meet new federal guidelines.

Other innovations include HEPA filters to purify the air of contaminants, and monitors for the rooms' temperature, humidity and air pressure.

New technology allows nurses to scan doctors' prescription orders into a computer so a pharmacist can quickly review and fill them, hospital officials said.

In the retail pharmacy, bar-code scanning and robotics have streamlined its efficiency, allowing a prescription to be filled in 20 minutes or less. Volume has increased some 15 to 20 percent since the renovations, said Dr. Alibrando.





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Pharmacist Tina Watson looks at samples of medicines at the UTHSCT Inpatient Pharmacy during its recent Open House.
((Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero))