Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / John Pastor, PharmD, President of Fairview Pharmacy Services

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John Pastor, PharmD, President of Fairview Pharmacy Services · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  This is Laura Dierda with the Becker's Healthcare
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  podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
• 0:04
  doctor John Pastor, president of Fairview Pharmacy Services.
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  John, it's a pleasure to have you on
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  the podcast today. Great. Thanks, Laura. I appreciate
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  you having me.
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  Absolutely. Now I'm excited to dig in deeper
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  with some of the cool things you've been
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  up to at Fairview, with pharmacy and, you
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  know, get your perspective on the future. But
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  before we dive in, can you tell me
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  a little bit more about yourself and Fairview?
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  Sure. Happy to.
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  So I'm a pharmacist by training, and I've
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  got over thirty years of experience in
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  various parts of pharmacy practice. I started my
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  career
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  more on the hospital side and spent the
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  first twenty, twenty five years exclusively in that
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  setting. And, you know, over the last five
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  to ten years of expanded
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  more into the ambulatory side of our pharmacy
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  business as well.
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  And a little bit about Fairview, Fairview is
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  a Minnesota based nonprofit health system.
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  And we operate 10 hospitals and 60 clinics.
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  We've got approximately 34,000
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  employees and serve 1,200,000
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  patients
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  and our pharmacy philosophy in Fairview is it's
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  really
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  more than a place to just get your
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  prescriptions filled. We're a vital part of how
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  our patients experience health care, and so we're
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  really proud to be part of that entire
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  journey through health care that that our patients
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  have.
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  And we've contributed to to this care of
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  our patients and the healing of our patients
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  really in this
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  philosophy of how we deliver our pharmacy care
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  for more than twenty five years now.
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  That's amazing to hear. You know, what a
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  a great,
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  service that you're providing to the community, especially
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  looking at,
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  you know, being able to make sure that
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  the patients have timely care, access to prescriptions,
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  and filling them, and really,
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  elevating that whole experience within the health care
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  journey. Now when you look back at the
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  last year or so, could you tell us
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  a little bit more about the most important
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  initiative you led? What did you do, and
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  what were the results?
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  Well, I think probably the single most important
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  thing we did in the last year is
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  we moved to a new location for our
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  pharmacy shared services facility.
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  So I can tell you a little bit
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  about Fairview Pharmacy in whole. We provide a
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  comprehensive suite of pharmacy services,
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  partly from the belief that we want our
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  patients,
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  if at all possible, to get all of
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  their pharmacy care directly from us.
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  So we operate 26 retail locations in our
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  communities.
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  We've got a specialty pharmacy that serves patients
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  in all 50 states,
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  where we take care of about 16,000
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  patients right now.
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  We've got a home infusion pharmacy serving nearly
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  3,000 patients,
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  and we also provide pharmacy services across the
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  10 hospitals I mentioned.
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  So all in all, we're filling over 200,000
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  prescriptions per month for our patients.
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  Now our move that I just mentioned,
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  took place
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  last fall. We started in October, and we
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  actually completed just after the first of the
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  year, but we
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  relocated
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  all of our core central pharmacy teams to
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  this new location.
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  It's a 150,000
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  square foot facility located in Shoreview, Minnesota, which
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  is a northeast suburb of the
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  Minneapolis Saint
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  Paul area.
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  And the reason we had to do this
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  relocation is we've nearly
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  doubled in size over the last five to
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  ten years within Fairview Pharmacy, and we simply
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  needed to to upgrade our facility both from
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  a space
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  standpoint as well as a technology standpoint to
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  be able to better serve our patients.
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  So that's really probably the biggest initiative that
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  we've led in the last year, and frankly,
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  it was a
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  a four or five year project in a
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  whole from start to to we got the
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  final team moved.
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  Wow. That's an incredible undertaking. And, you know,
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  I I can imagine it takes a lot
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  of organization and planning and management, but then
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  no matter what, you know, there are always
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  lessons you learn along the way and pivots
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  you have to make. So, you know, what
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  were some of the things that,
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  you know, you had to adjust to or
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  surprises that you had during this process?
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  Just be curious, especially for those who are
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  thinking of going through something similar or needing
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  to expand the space of their for their
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  pharmacy teams overall.
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  Well, honestly, I would say one of the
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  initial things,
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  many of us on the pharmacy team recognized
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  is, you know, we had not done a
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  project of this scale ever.
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  We we call this, you know, one of
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  the things on our list that they don't
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  teach you in pharmacy school, you know, how
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  to do a big project like this. So
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  we spent a lot of time talking to
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  our peers and colleagues across the country that
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  had done similar
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  projects, trying to learn from their
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  experiences and take some of the best of
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  the best things that they did and incorporate
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  them into our
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  spaces.
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  And some of the things that we we
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  took away from that is,
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  in the design of our infusion
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  center, we put together
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  for our infusion suites these
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  specially designed bays for adult patients, adolescents, and
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  pediatric patients,
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  that sort of meet the unique needs of
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  those patients in terms of decor
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  and functionality in each of these 16
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  suites that we have on location.
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  And we also did the same for our
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  specialty and mail order pharmacy in terms of
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  technology.
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  We went
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  around and evaluated all the different types of
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  technology that would improve both safety and efficiency
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  and help automate many of our processes.
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  And we have some of the
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  I'd call it sort of state state of
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  the art technology and some of the first
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  installations
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  in The US market of some of this
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  equipment.
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  So I think it was really just kinda
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  doing the research and and and drawing on
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  the experiences of some of our close colleagues
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  and peers across the country.
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  That's helpful to understand. Thank you for digging
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  a little bit deeper there. Now, looking ahead
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  to 2026, what are some of your big
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  priorities as well as headwinds that you're focused
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  on?
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  Well, I'd say a couple of things. You
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  know, pharmacy
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  across the country has already developed into,
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  you know, nearly a trillion dollar industry. I
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  know it's over $800,000,000,000
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  now, and that number is expected to continue
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  to climb.
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  Specialty pharmacy being a large part of that.
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  So we've really put a focus on just
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  making sure we're developing,
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  you know, the technology and the processes that
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  we can continue to accommodate that increased growth
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  and continue to meet our patient needs.
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  One of the other things that that comes
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  to mind is just improving access
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  to pharmacy care.
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  This is a national problem that we've experienced
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  quite a bit in Minnesota as well too.
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  But pharmacies across the country continue to close
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  at an alarming rate.
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  Both the chain pharmacies as well as the
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  independently owned pharmacies. In fact,
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  in Minnesota, I think that numbers nearly forty
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  four forty five percent
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  of pharmacies have closed since 2013.
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  So we find that there's a number of
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  patients living,
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  you know, not just in rural areas, but
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  even in urban areas that have
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  significant access issues where they may have to
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  drive a long ways
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  to get pharmacy care
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  and may find that the pharmacy that they
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  do have access to has reduced hours to
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  operate.
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  So, you know, we're keeping that in mind
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  as we're always evaluating
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  our services and our ability to continue to
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  serve,
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  our patients and those that live in our
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  communities.
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  And I think the final thing I'd I'd
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  add to that, Laura, is just
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  what I'd call just the intense headwinds that
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  come from the external forces right now. So,
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  you know, all the federal legislation that's happening,
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  that impacts
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  health care and pharmacy in general,
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  all the manufacturer
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  rules and restrictions that tie into the three
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  forty b program,
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  workforce shortages,
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  supply chain issues, including shortages, which have not
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  gotten better over the years, much to our
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  disappointment,
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  and then just the overall health care finances,
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  with rising costs and, you know, reimbursement rates
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  that don't necessarily keep pace with that.
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  That absolutely makes a lot of sense. And,
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  you know, those things you you just mentioned
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  in looking at the three forty b program
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  works for shortages,
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  supply chain issues, a lot of unknowns out
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  there,
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  in in the kind of widening
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  gaps, that are challenging for the health care
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  industry and and access to care. And so,
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  you know, how do you as a leader,
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  think about
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  making sure you're planning for the future in
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  the right way, not necessarily knowing a 100%
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  what it's gonna look like, but being ready
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  to to pivot? I mean, are there things
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  that and contingency plans that you're making?
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  If there are changes to the three forty
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  b program, what is the impact there, and
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  how are you kind of shifting the way
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  you you look at, you know, your strategy
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  on the pharmacy side?
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  Yeah. So, basically, you're asking, you know, how
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  do we polish our crystal ball up? I
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  think that's a great question. I think just
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  staying abreast of what's happening around us in
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  terms of, you know, legislative changes,
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  you know, policy changes,
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  making sure we have all the right members
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  on our team engaged that can help monitor
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  all those things and help us react and
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  and pivot our processes and things as we
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  need to in order to to respond to
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  to all the things that you just mentioned.
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  And, you know, when you think about things
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  like drug shortages, for example,
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  drug for drug shortages and drug supply issues
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  are, you know, a a daily
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  sort of thing. They change day by day
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  and sometimes multiple times within each day. So
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  I think it just highlights that it takes
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  the team and the entire team to help
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  us keep monitor of all that and be
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  able to respond so we can best meet
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  our patients' needs.
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  I love that. You know, it is really
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  helpful to, look at things that way and
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  just keeping that patient front and center. What
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  do you think is the hardest thing that
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  you have to do in the coming year
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  will be?
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  Honestly, I think what we've just been talking
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  about just, you know, being able to respond
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  in a timely way to, you know, kind
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  of the external changes that come our way
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  whether they're regulatory
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  or legislative
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  or or other.
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  In my career, the the the pharmacy business
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  has become very complex compared to how it
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  was when I started. And again, it just
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  it makes me thankful for the incredible team
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  of people we have
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  within Fairview Pharmacy and across broader Fairview,
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  you know, to help us address those challenges
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  and make sure that we're there
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  to help, make health happen for our patients.
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  That's amazing to hear. And definitely, you know,
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  like you said, things have become very complex
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  in the the, health care space and and
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  especially in pharmacy. So when you look towards
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  growth, where else do you see some opportunities
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  in the next few years? What does that
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  look like for you, in in, you know,
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  Fairview Pharmacy?
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  Yeah. Great question. I think, you know, the
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  biggest opportunity is to be sure that our
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  pharmacies across the country are doing what they
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  can to care for their own patients,
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  You know, that our health systems are able
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  to keep their own patients and provide all
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  that
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  pharmacy care for a seamless and hopefully less
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  complex
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  experience for the patients that they serve.
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  One of the ways that we've
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  tried to help address that both locally and
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  nationally is we launched a new company within
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  Fairview at the 2025
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  called Fairview
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  Pharmacy Solutions,
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  that I serve as the chief operating officer
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  for.
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  And in our goal there is to help
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  other health systems do a lot of the
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  things that we've done
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  over the last twenty five years and optimize
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  their care delivery,
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  keep their patients within their health system,
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  and do the best they can to make
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  a difference in that fashion.
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  Oh, that's fascinating. And so you're able to
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  actually,
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  scale some of the things and share some
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  of the things that have worked well with
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  other organizations and hopefully,
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  you know, bridge that success across the board.
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  I think that sounds like a really,
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  great opportunity, to continue to strengthen those times
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  in broadening the influence,
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  that you have in the health care space.
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  No. I I agree. I mean, that's that's
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  our
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  principle under which we operate is, you know,
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  when when we can all serve patients better,
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  we all do better, and that's that's our
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  goal.
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  Fantastic. I love it. John, thank you so
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  much for joining on the on the podcast
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  today. This has been a really fun and
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  informative conversation.
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  And and so I'm excited about that and
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  looking forward to seeing you as well in
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  April. I know you'll be speaking at our,
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  twenty twenty six chief pharmacy officer summit,
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  in Chicago. And it'll be amazing to kinda
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  see you in person and continue this discussion
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  and share some of those learnings in growth
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  opportunities. So thank you, John. Yeah. Well, I
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  look forward to that, and I appreciate the
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  opportunity to be with you today, Laura. So
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  thank you.