The Louisville, Ky.-based system recently opened a central pharmacy services center in La Grange, Ky., and at its ribbon cutting event, leaders reflected on the past to celebrate the project.
“When they opened the original Kentucky hospital in 1924, a pharmacy was considered ‘an unnecessary expense,'” Patrick Falvey, PhD, DSc, chief operating officer for Baptist Health, said. “The first hospital did not have a pharmacy. Instead, twice a day, they had a young boy who would take a stack of prescriptions and ride a bike to [a local pharmacy] to bring back the pharmaceuticals.
“I’m sure there’s some compliance issues in that,” he said to a laughing crowd.
After demand grew, the system hired pharmacists for $125 a month and opened its first pharmacy in August 1935. A hundred years later, Baptist Health opened a 102,000-square-foot facility that will soon be capable of filling 14,000 prescriptions every 10 hours.
“There is nothing else quite like the central pharmacy services center in the state or even the country,” Dr. Falvey said.
The system is launching the site in phases. Its doors opened June 5, and a spokesperson told Becker’s the facility’s prescription fulfillment capabilities are projected to start Aug. 12 and distribution Oct. 10.
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