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Jordan Smith
Walgreens
1220 Madison Ave.
Covington, Ky. 41011
https://www.walgreens.com/
COVINGTON, Ky. — Walgreens pharmacist Jordan Smith’s passion is health equity — helping to ensure all patients have access to vaccines, irrespective of social determinants of health.
“There are varying levels of literacy around immunizations and the importance of having personalized conversations, educating patients on vaccine preventable diseases, and creating and ensuring ease of access to vaccines is the key to success in increasing vaccination rates,” says Smith.
“I also like to go beyond the counter,” she says. “I recognize the need in the community and the vulnerable patient populations that are not coming to the pharmacy because they lack the means, so I get out in the community and partner with community-based organizations, food banks, faith-based organizations and the health department to identify the areas of need and seek opportunities, assess barriers, and collaborate and capture these patient populations.”
Smith sees every patient interaction as an opportunity, whether it is engaging with patients about their immunization status, assessing gaps in their immunization history or instilling vaccine confidence. She was proud to receive the 2022 American Pharmacists Association’s Immunization Award for Individual Practitioner for vaccination efforts during and after COVID. She was also proud to represent Kentucky at the Regional Meeting of Association of Immunization Managers (AIM) for Vaccine Access Cooperative for Adult Vaccines, where pharmacists from seven states gathered to discuss what they could do to increase vaccination rates across the Southeast.
Discussing the role of education in patient care, she says self-education is a major part of it: “I serve a patient best when I am educated, and this goes beyond just pharmacy and medications. I am constantly learning. My motto has always been, ‘If you’re not learning something every day, you’re doing it wrong.’ We never stop learning, and I take personal responsibility to continually learn, seek opportunities and evolve. The only constant is change.”
From a patient perspective, pharmacists are the most accessible health care providers, she adds. “The questions we are asked are not just about medications. I see my job as being a resource beyond medications. To be successful, I need to know my community, its available assets and how to be a better resource for patients when I see a need or they present one.”
Asked for her favorite part of the job, she says there are so many enjoyable and fulfilling aspects of her work. But her favorite part “is truly taking care of patients, building relationships and having an impact on communities.”
“I am so proud to be a pharmacist, and I’m really excited about where the profession is going and how our role is evolving,” she comments.
Smith’s first exposure to pharmacy was during a medical science rotation in her senior year of high school. It was at a local community hospital in her hometown of Versailles, Ky., and she remembers the first drug name she learned was “acetaminophen.” She was intrigued by everything the pharmacist was doing and was determined to learn all the “quick grab shelf” drug names and indications before the end of her rotation.
In her 18 years with Walgreens, she has transitioned through several positions. She started with the company in 2006, in Frankfort, Ky., when she was hired as a pharmacy technician and worked her way to senior certified pharmacy technician. After graduating from pharmacy school in 2016, she began her career as a pharmacist in Louisville, Ky., as a staff pharmacist and was promoted to pharmacy manager in 2017. She managed two locations before moving to Lexington, Ky., to manage a 24-hour location. From there, she moved to a community-based specialty pharmacy in Cincinnati, where she worked for three years before being promoted to health care supervisor for the Indianapolis market in December 2020, during COVID. In November 2022, she transitioned to the support office in Deerfield, Ill., for a special assignment role working on early state clinical development programs and pharmacy operations initiatives. Last spring, she transitioned back to the field as a pharmacy manager in Covington, Ky., returning to the position she has found the most fulfilling in her career.
At Walgreens, microfulfillment centers remove up to 50% of dispensing from stores, she notes. Centralized services allow off-site support for data entry and review, as well as triaging phone calls. And providing the encouragement and support to technicians to become certified immunizers helps alleviate the workload so pharmacists can spend more time providing patient care.
Smith’s pharmacy’s services include immunizations, testing for COVID and/or flu, and medication therapy management (MTM). Social determinants of health (SDOH) play an important role in her work as well.
Mentors at Walgreens have been influential for various reasons and at different parts of Smith’s career path, but collectively they have been the biggest contributors to her growth and development. Four women pharmacists in particular stand out:
Rena Gravely, region health care director; Lisa Tomic, vice president of pharmacy operations; Dorothy Loy, senior director of pharmacy services; and Jamie Biliter, registered manager onsite pharmacy (RMGO) of Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy.
“Watching these women lead in various capacities, their impact on the profession, advocacy for pharmacists, passion for team members and patients, and their genuine investment in me, has been incredibly motivating and inspiring throughout my Walgreens career.”
