Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Edith Okolo, PharmD, RPh, Director of Pharmacy at Cedar Crest Hospital

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Edith Okolo, PharmD, RPh, Director of Pharmacy at Cedar Crest Hospital · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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Welcome to the Becker's pharmacy leadership podcast. I'm
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Ella Jeffries, pharmacy reporter with Becker's healthcare.
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Today, I'm joined by Edith Okolo, director of
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pharmacy at Cedar Crest Hospital.
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In this episode, we'll be talking about key
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pharmacy initiatives from the past year, the priorities
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and headwinds leaders are navigating as they plan
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for 2026,
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and where opportunities for organizational growth are emerging.
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Edith, thank you so much for joining me
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today. To start us off, can you please
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introduce yourself and share a bit about your
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role in Cedar Crest Hospital's pharmacy?
0:30
Thank you for having me.
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My name is doctor Edith Okolo. I am
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the pharmacy director here at Cedar Crest Hospital
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and RTC
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located at Belton, Texas.
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And,
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Cedar Crest is part of,
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Arcadia Healthcare,
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which operates a network of about 200 facilities
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across The US.
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And we are an inpatient psychiatric hospital,
1:00
and we have about 158
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beds.
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And we cater to both, child adolescent
1:07
units and as well as adults.
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For our child adolescent units, we do have
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what we call the RTC,
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which is the residential
1:17
units where they stay longer and they're able
1:20
to go to school while they receive care.
1:23
And then we'll have the acute units where
1:26
the the coming in crisis and they are
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stabilized
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in that unit. And then we do have
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acute for adults.
1:34
Just one unit for acute in for adults
1:37
that take care of, issues
1:40
and try to stabilize them when they come
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in. So this is, what we do. We
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help,
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provide a pharmacy services for this,
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psychiatric,
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hospital.
1:53
Thank you.
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Great. Thank you so much for that context.
1:58
Now looking back over the past year, what
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was the most important initiative that you led?
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What did you focus on, and what results
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did you see?
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So last year was a big year for
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us here, not just for me, but for
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the entire facility here at Cedar Crest.
2:14
We were able to upgrade our technology,
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you know, knowing that technology is the big
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thing now.
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So, last year, we actually
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had a new system
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of automated medication,
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machines, management systems.
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We had about seven machines
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in here because we do have what we
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call the med rooms, the medication rooms.
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And we have,
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med machines in there to help us,
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you know. So those seven med rooms
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had,
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we had to replace
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the old machines,
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which we used to have what we call
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the,
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med dispenses
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in those seven bedrooms. And now
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we were able to upgrade
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to an Omnicell
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med machine,
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which is a more,
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top of the,
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you know, top of the line,
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a machine that is used by most,
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big hospitals
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around the nation.
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You know? So,
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we had the budget approved for us to
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get those machines,
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and that was the big thing we did
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because that was a lot of work in
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place because
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it's involved both, you know,
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deploying the machines
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and having them,
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coming from the company.
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And then we'll have to have a staging
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area for those machines.
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And in that staging area was the area
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for also
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training of the staff
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as well as programming those med machines,
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for the facility.
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And then, we had, technicians come in to
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help us with the programming
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of the machines.
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And then, of course, we had to get
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trainers too.
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And,
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it's it's involved a lot.
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So we went from, you know, having the
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machines in
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and then, setting them up
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and then,
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having them,
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having the the
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employees
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all the employees
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trained on how to use those machines.
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And then, of course and then the next
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part was having to prepare those machines
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to be switched up with the old ones
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that
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we had to deal with,
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ordering medications for seven machines.
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That was a lot, you know, having to
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order
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medications that went into those seven machines
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and getting the manpower
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needed to load the,
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seven machines.
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And then, of course,
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after loading them, those machines
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kind of an upgrade from the old one
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because
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those machines, they they helps,
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they kind of help us,
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do more of,
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you know, more of the work that we
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used to
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do. Like, with those machine, you have a
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real life
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tracking of,
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of,
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you know, monitoring
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diversion,
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potentials.
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In case there is any diversion going on,
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you can monitor that real life, you know.
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And then they also reduce errors.
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So we could track errors and reduce errors,
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and then it also helped us track the
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medications.
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And those machines also helped a lot with
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safety
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because with those machines
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we're able to actually
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have
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barcodes for every medication that goes into the
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machine and with that
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that's,
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we have a scanning system that scans the
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every medication
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that goes to the machine and then scans
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the medication
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to make sure that at all times we
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have the right drug going into the right
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spot and from the right spot on the
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machine we also have the right drug going
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into the right patient at the right time.
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And they all involve technology,
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scanning, scanning, scanning all the way. So that
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was a big thing that,
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we we got done. I mean, it sounds
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easy saying it, but it wasn't like that
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when it was happening because a whole brand
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new machine having to work every employee through
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it
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and having to assign rules and permissions
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and all that, you know, that took a
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lot of our time. And but we were
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personally, I was really grateful
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to have those machines in because the ones
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we had were kind of older.
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And then, of course, we had to also
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interface
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this new system
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with our software that we use to enter
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orders as pharmacists.
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And,
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hopefully,
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in the near future, we're also hoping to
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upgrade to
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a new,
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AMR system.
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So that was one of my big things
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last year.
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And,
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the results are awesome because right now, we're
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enjoying it. We haven't gone through the,
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deployment phase, the go live phase, and the
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post go live phase. And now we are
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reaping the rewards of having that system now
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because things are running a lot smoother.
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That was a great example. Thank you so
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much for sharing and looking forward to when
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you can reap those benefits like you were
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saying. Now Yes. Looking ahead, what are the
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big priorities or headwinds that you're focused on
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as you plan for 2026?
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So my biggest thing is patient safety because
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at the end of the day, when we
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have patients, we expect them to be safe.
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We don't want patient, getting worst under our
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care.
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So the biggest thing is focusing on making
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sure
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my patients are safe while under our care,
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and our patients are getting better under our
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care and not getting worse. So we focus
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on medication safety,
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and we also focus on, you know,
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making sure that these patients are taken care
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of appropriately,
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you know, making sure they get the right
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medications to the right patient at the right
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time, and there's no delay,
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delay in patient care,
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and there's no,
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errors in doing that. So the that's my
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biggest thing,
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for this year. As long as I can
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get my patients safe, well taken care of,
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then the next thing, I I think is
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top, my top priority
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is workflow
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efficiency
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and productivity
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of the staff.
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So,
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I,
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with that being said, we also focus on
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the staff to make sure that the workflow
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is efficient, that everyone is doing what they
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have to do at every time
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appropriately
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and to make workflow efficient so that there's
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no
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obstacles and hindrances to,
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providing,
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care to the patients at any time.
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Gotcha. Thank you for sharing that. And do
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you have any specific examples of initiatives you
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plan to implement in 2026
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in order to enhance patient safety or to,
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make that workflow more efficient?
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Well, one of the things we're also doing
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is helping our patients that cannot afford medications.
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We have what they call the,
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long acting injectables.
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These long acting inject injectables
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are mostly,
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psychiatric medications,
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like,
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they are anti psycho
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psychotic meds,
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and they are very expensive.
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So so one of the things initiatives
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we have taken is to make sure that
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we can get these medications
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in house
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for the patients and the providers
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so that while the patient is in house,
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they can have these medications.
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And then the pay the providers
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and the nurses will monitor this patient,
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the health, the staff will monitor the patients
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while they are with us to see the
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effect of these medications
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on these patients before they are discharged.
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So,
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we see it if there are side effects,
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if this medication is working for them, if
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it's something they need to be on, and
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then we'll work out
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how to, get them on this medication so
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that they can have a life
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outside the facility.
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Gotcha. Thank you for sharing that example.
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Yeah. Now what do you think is the
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hardest thing that you'll have to tackle in
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the coming year as a pharmacy leader?
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So one of the big things that, you
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know, we always kind of,
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look at is, you know, medication
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shortages.
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You know? Because most times when we have
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medication
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shortage, it's a big pain because, you know,
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patients are on these medications. They need it
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on a day to day basis,
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and, trying to either switch them to something
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else or find alternatives
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to these medications
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is a big a big deal. You know,
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it takes a lot because now you have
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to collaborate
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with the other health care professionals
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to see what can be done for these
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patients if we cannot obtain,
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these medications. For example,
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there was a shortage of lorazepam
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injectables,
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and we know this medication is indispensable
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in a psychiatric hospital setting
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where we need it for seizures.
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We need it for emergency
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medications
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like agitation
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and aggression and all that stuff. So when
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we are shot, it's it's it's it's a
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crisis issue.
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Because if patient is having a seizure,
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what can I do
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immediately
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to bring this situation?
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So we had to, collaborate
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and kind of come up with,
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alternatives
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that is also,
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gonna be,
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efficient for the patient. So it's a big
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thing. So but luckily for us, we're able
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to get some Lorazepam
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in
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just a couple of weeks ago, so that
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helps with that,
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shortage.
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So handling medication shortages is a big thing
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and, of course,
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also
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being able to maintain the budgets. You know,
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with the rising,
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drug costs,
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it's it's a big thing too, you know,
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to maintain the budget and, keep the hospital,
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you know,
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positively
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balanced financially.
13:02
Definitely.
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But even with those challenges, there are still
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areas for growth. Where do you see the
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best opportunities for organizational growth moving forward?
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So for growth, there are so many opportunities
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for growth. You know? As you know, mental
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health
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or mental health is a big thing in
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America.
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And we know that, you know, statistically,
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it's been said that one of one out
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of five Americans
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is affected in one way or the other
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by mental health condition.
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And so there are so much opportunities
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for growth. One is,
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being able to educate the society
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about, you know,
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the the signs and symptoms of mental health
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so that they don't,
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tend to,
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get to eat when it's already late, you
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know, because the the simple signs that you
14:01
get that tells you, oh, I have depression,
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oh, I have anxiety. Maybe I need to
14:07
see a doctor for this or that. So
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that's a a place for growth, educating the
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the the community,
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you know, about
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science of mental health and how you can
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handle it, how you can find help,
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you know, those are areas for growth. Another
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area for growth is, you know, with the
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society also having so much issues with dysfunctional
14:33
family units
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where you have,
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you know, either child abandonment
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and family disintegration.
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And we do have,
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a residential
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unit called,
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RTC
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where the kids come in, and they can
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have a home or a place to stay
14:53
instead of staying in an environment that is
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toxic
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or in an environment that is, you know,
15:00
is,
15:01
is, you know, is behind the the trauma
15:04
or the issues they are having. We they
15:07
can come in, and we we have opportunity
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for expansion
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and,
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you know, with funds and, with staffing. We
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we have opportunity to expand the units and
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then have this,
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chat, a child adolescent unit
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expanded
15:27
for
15:30
for the patients,
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for this,
15:34
patients that that that's the child adolescent
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to have a place to stay and also
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go to school and be able to acquire
15:42
the skills that they will need
15:44
in order to function as,
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you know, part of the society without being,
15:53
segregated
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out of the society because of issues of
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mental health.
16:00
Definitely. Definitely.
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Yeah. Yeah. Well, Edith, this has been such
16:04
a great conversation. Thank you so much for
16:06
sharing your perspective and insights with us. That's
16:08
all for the time we have for today's
16:10
episode of the Becker's pharmacy leadership podcast.
16:13
A big thank you again to Edith Okolo
16:14
for joining us to discuss pharmacy priorities, challenges,
16:17
and opportunities at Cedar Crest Hospital. Thanks for
16:20
listening, and we'll see you next time.
16:22
Thank you so much for having me.