Community Medical Center
The Department of Pharmacy takes care of inpatients and outpatients of
the hospital. Our Pharmacy Department is committed to ensure patient satisfaction
and continuity of care. The outpatients we care for are registered to
radiology, laboratory, surgery, cardiology, outpatient infusion centers
and the emergency department. The department takes care of a very large
outpatient oncology/hematology population at the J. Phillip Citta Cancer
Center. The Outpatient Infusion Center is part of the hospital, and has
three pharmacists, that work in a dedicated chemotherapy clean room, a
non-chemotherapy clean room and ante-room. The pharmacists in the Outpatient
Infusion Center also prepare and dispense chemotherapy for inpatients
on the oncology unit.
The inpatient pharmacy supports and maintains automatic dispensing cabinets
(ADC) on the patient care units. The Clinical Information System supports
bedside barcode medication administration performed by nursing. Clinical
pharmacists in the main pharmacy verify medication orders placed by prescriber
through the computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system. Centralized
clinical pharmacists answer phones, verify orders, and oversee technician
activities and IV room compounding. There is also an Operating Room Pharmacy
Satellite staffed by one pharmacist and one technician Monday through
Friday. Pharmacists are also assigned to each floor to perform patient
counseling, provide feedback to prescribers on optimizing medication therapy
management, and assist the medical and nursing staff with education regarding
medications. Pharmacy technicians in the main pharmacy work in conjunction
with pharmacists to prepare medications and ensure timely delivery of
medications to inpatient and outpatient patient care areas. Technicians
support the decentralized pharmacists by restocking the ADC’s and
delivering non-stocked medications to the units from the central pharmacy.
In the central pharmacy, the technicians assist pharmacists by answering
phones, filling labels, compounding and picking medications, and performing
deliveries.
The pharmacy has 5 clinical specialists who provide additional resources
to the pharmacy, nurses, physicians and patients. The two full time clinical
specialists that cover the emergency department, are double board certified
in both Pharmacotherapy and Critical Care Pharmacotherapy and focus on
management of the critically ill patient being admitted to the hospital.
The pharmacy department has two inpatient Fairleigh Dickinson University
School of Pharmacy Faculty, providing internal medicine and critical care
services. The hospital also has a Transitions of Care Clinical Specialist
that works closely with the Transitions of Care nursing team to ensure
accurate and appropriate medication therapy management during care transitions
when patients are admitted to and discharged from the hospital. All staff
members are expected to promote the care values of the pharmacy and document
their value and contribution.
The hospital services supported by the pharmacy department include pediatrics,
neonatal, gynecology/maternity, critical care, general medicine, emergency
medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, general surgery,
robotic surgery, geriatrics, hospice, telemetry, and oncology. The department
is involved in several interdisciplinary committees including the Pharmacy
and Therapeutics Committee, Medication Safety Committee, Performance Improvement
Council, Quality Council, Policy and Procedure Committee, Institutional
Review Board, Cancer Committee, Support Services Division Committee, CAT
committee (Cerner Clinical Information System), Falls Committee, Pain
Domain Committee, and the Accreditation and Licensure Committee. In addition
to precepting a multitude of pharmacy students each year, the pharmacy
department also maintains ASHP pharmacy residency programs. Community
Medical Center provides training to two post-graduate year one residents
each year and is beginning a specialized second year residency training
program in Critical Care for 2016.
Community Medical Center Pharmacy Leadership
Lynne Goldstein, PharmD
Director of Pharmacy
Jessica Nodzon, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP
Assistant Director of Clinical Pharmacy & PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program Director
Patricia Chenenko, RPh
Operations Supervisor
Anne Ficalora, PharmD
Sterile Products Supervisor
Justin Liou, RPh
Information Technology Pharmacist
Janine Tarricone
Pharmacy Technician Supervisor