nEWS

Dear Member,

After thoughtful consideration, the GSHP leadership has made the decision to cancel our GSHP Summer Meeting that was set to take place July 9-12 at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort. We have been closely monitoring the information and recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as well as state and local governments, related to COVID-19. Based on the continued uncertainty around the safety of large gatherings and travel restrictions for our attendees, we feel the most appropriate course of action at this point is to cancel our meeting. 

Our Summer Meeting is an annual highlight for our attendees and families and a time to celebrate our achievements over the past year. We are disappointed that we will miss another opportunity for education and networking with each other, but we are working on alternate ways to highlight our awards winners, new officer installation, and Reverse Expo. Despite these uncertain times, GSHP remains committed to our members. In particular, I would like to highlight two efforts. First, our District Directors and Education Committee, led by Lindsay Schaak Rothstein and John Patka, recognize that our members rely on the high quality continuing education provided by GSHP through our local and state meetings. Hopefully you have been one of the many participants that have been able to access this increased quantity and variety of time offerings of our live webinars. Second, our Director of Pharmacy and Clinical Conference Calls have been critical as we navigate this pandemic together by providing an avenue for our health-system partners around the state to share ideas, concerns, and lessons learned in real time.  

Thank you for your continued patience during this difficult time.   If you have a reservation in the GSHP room block, the Omni will automatically cancel it for you.   If you have a room reservation outside of our room block, you will need to take care of that reservation directly.  For those of you that have registered for the meeting, we will email you shortly regarding it.

Trisha Branan

GSHP President

The Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued an advisory opinion stating that HHS's guidance authorizing pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 tests pursuant to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act supersedes any state law that would prohibit pharmacists from ordering tests.

Specifically, the advisory opinion refers to utilizing a "qualified person" for COVID-19 response. HHS Secretary Alex Azar declared pharmacists to be a "qualified person" for the purposes of ordering and administering COVID-19 tests on April 8.

Board of Pharmacy  adopts an emergency rule temporarily waiving the practical examination from the licensing requirements.

https://gbp.georgia.gov/press-releases/2020-05-20/georgia-state-board-pharmacy-emergency-rule-practical-examination

Did you miss the GSHP webinar last night-

Based on the ongoing unpredictability and likely continued restrictions on in-person gatherings, the Executive Committee has decided to continue to suspend all in-person district meetings through our scheduled Summer Meeting and continue to offer this programming via webinar.

On Saturday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the distribution plan for remdesivir will be modified to state health departments. The initial shipments last week were sent to select hospitals, but the process has changed due to calls for transparency as the initial distribution process was perceived as opaque and arbitrary.

From the announcement: "State health departments will distribute the doses to appropriate hospitals in their states because state and local health departments have the greatest insight into community-level needs in the COVID-19 response, including appropriate distribution of a treatment in limited supply. Healthcare providers interested in administering the donated experimental drug should contact their state health department."

Another important takeaway from the announcement is that 607,000 vials of remdesivir will be distributed in the United States. Gilead announced the donation of 1.5 million vials, but that donation is worldwide. The United States will receive about 40% of the total donated amount.

Missed the Virtual Poster Session.  Here is the recording:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/4N5IBuDQ50BIHtbU-GX6f6AQN7j-T6a81CYaqKIPzUe4Hi6-RiJ4Ei-rPSAVOL2_

Attached is a PDF of the Posters that were scheduled to be presented at the Spring meeting.

GSHP Virtual Poster Session 2020 Catalog (002).pdf

Virtual Poster Session

Congratulations to Zachary Halbig (student poster) and Adam Pizzuti (resident poster) our Virtual Poster Session winners