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Whitney Gomez
Kroger
35 W. University Pkwy
Jackson, Tenn. 38305
https://www.kroger.com/
JACKSON, Tenn. — For Whitney (Dani) Gomez, an interest in mathematics and science helped turn a part-time job into a successful and satisfying career in pharmacy.
At the age of 16, Gomez took a job at an independent pharmacy in her hometown. After attending a career fair while an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee at Martin, she realized that becoming a pharmacist would tie in perfectly with her interest in math and science. She attended the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy (UTHSC COP), graduating magna cum laude with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2010.
Gomez’s career at Kroger began in January 2007 as a pharmacy intern, working at Kroger’s store 468 in Jackson, Tenn., until graduation. She often worked 20 or more hours per week, even when classes were in session.
In 2010, following graduation from pharmacy school, Gomez was promoted to pharmacy manager at store 448 in Jackson. She led the pharmacy team at that location until her promotion in 2016 to pharmacy leader at her current practice location, store 468.
According to Gomez, Jackson, like many other southern communities, sees higher rates of obesity, which often lead to diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and many other chronic conditions. As a result, she and her team devote considerable time to counseling patients one-on-one about the importance of adhering to their medication regimens as well as providing information on how diet and exercise can help improve their overall health.
Patient education is an important element in the care she and her team provide, Gomez says, because the more patients are educated about their conditions and their medications, the more likely they are to be adherent. Besides patient counseling, she enjoys administering life-saving vaccines to her patients. These one-on-one experiences give her an opportunity to connect with them and stay updated about what is happening with their health and in their lives.
There are other ways that pharmacists can intervene in and positively impact patients’ lives, Gomez learned. A few years ago when she and her team were doing health screenings for store associates, the meat department leader had a blood pressure test that yielded numbers so high that Gomez repeated the test with a different monitor. When his blood pressure was still dangerously high, she counseled him on the next steps he should take and insisted that he be seen by a physician.
Ultimately he ended up undergoing open-heart surgery to correct severe blockages. But it was Gomez’s diligent counseling that helped save the life of a colleague, which he realized. When he was released from the hospital, she recalls, he brought a heart-shaped pillow that had been signed by all his providers at the hospital so Gomez could sign it as well.
These days Gomez finds great satisfaction in mentoring new pharmacists, pharmacy managers and interns, a role that allows her to utilize the experience she has gained in the course of her career. She has been a preceptor for both UTHSC COP and Union University College of Pharmacy for several years and not only takes interns on rotation but actively seeks to hire interns while they are in pharmacy school.
Teaching and coaching the members of her team is something Gomez takes very seriously, and as a result of her motivation and dedication, she has put together what is recognized as a great team of pharmacists, technicians and interns.
In late 2022, that recognition culminated in the health and wellness leader of Kroger’s Delta division contacting Gomez about mentoring a new pharmacy leader at a high-volume store in another state. Since she was not licensed to practice in the state, Gomez immediately immersed herself in studying the state’s laws and was licensed within five weeks. Consequently, she was able to go to the store and participate in the actual workflow and experience the pharmacy culture there, which in turn enabled her to know where to focus her coaching.
“The entire experience was very positive for everyone involved and, as a result, I was asked to coach some additional pharmacy leaders,” Gomez says. She is now licensed in four of the five states of the Delta division: Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. She is, she says, ready and willing to coach and mentor others in the 88 pharmacies in those states.
Gomez pays tribute to the mentoring she has received from the health and wellness leader of her division, Cindy Fisher. “Cindy was my manager when I started, and I was with her for three years,” she recalls. “She has really helped me balance the business side of pharmacy and the patient care aspects of the profession. I really admire the way she managed our team, but just as important, how she connected with patients.”
