Before becoming chief pharmacy officer at Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital, Christopher Fortier, PharmD, held various roles at Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina, including coordinator of pharmacy administrative services and manager of pharmacy support and OR services.
Dr. Fortier also was an adjunct associate professor at Columbia-based South Carolina College of Pharmacy. He earned his doctorate of pharmacy from Mansfield-based University of Connecticut.
On Monday, April 17, 2017, Dr. Fortier will speak at the Becker's Hospital Review 8th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place from April 17 through April 20 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Fortier's session, click here.
Question: What inspires you?
Christopher Fortier: The drive to provide innovative and safe patient care. Being in administration, I don't have the patient contact I once had. But I make it a priority each morning when I come into work to walk through a different patient care unit to remind myself why I do what I do.
Q: The session you're leading in April is called "Not If, But When: Drug Diversion in Hospitals." Could you give a brief preview of the session?
CF: In September 2015, MGH settled a $2.3 million lawsuit with the Drug Enforcement Administration for our violations (the largest to-date for a hospital), and we wanted to be transparent about a topic that most don't want to discuss. We want to shed more light about best practices that other organizations should be proactively addressing to prevent drug diversion and provide assistance to their employees who have an addiction.
Q: What do you most enjoy about the Boston area?
CF: I enjoy the energy that comes with the high-level healthcare environment, as well as the education and innovation pushing the limits to impact our future.