For years, health systems have struggled to recruit and retain pharmacy technicians — a shortage that’s stretched operations and forced hospitals to compete for a limited workforce. One Florida health system decided to stop competing and start training.
Seven years ago, Fort Myers, Fla.-based Lee Health launched an in-house pharmacy technician program accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The program, which costs nothing for participants and even pays them while they train, has become a cornerstone of the organization’s workforce strategy.
“We’ve been doing this for quite some time,” John Armitstead, vice president of pharmacy at Lee Health, told Becker’s. “We actually pay them to be in class. That’s kind of innovative. Would any university in the country even think about doing that? No way.”
The decision to build the program came as local pipelines were drying up. A nearby college had previously supplied newly certified technicians, but when that program shut down, the health system faced the prospect of either “stealing” workers from other employers or creating its own source of talent.
“The area we live in has rapidly expanded, making this need for the workforce even greater — and it’s only continued to grow,” said Crystal Tortosa, pharmacy technician program supervisor.
Leaders also saw an opportunity to eliminate financial barriers: the shuttered college’s tuition was between $8,000 and $10,000 per year, often requiring students to take out loans.
“We’re not an academic institution. We’re a patient care institution. But we know the standards,” Mr. Armitstead said. “Why would we put them at an economic deficit right from the get-go, when in fact, we know the training they need?”
Ms. Tortosa said the program’s structure is designed to provide both flexibility and rigor. Each 16-week course follows American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technician Certification Board curricula. Students are paid up to 40 hours a week during the program, covering online coursework, in-class learning and experiential training.
Recruitment begins about 10 weeks before each class. Applicants — both internal and external — go through an interview process, then are sponsored as employees to join the program. They spend the first six weeks in a blend of classroom and online learning, followed by six weeks of rotations through both acute and ambulatory care settings. Throughout, Ms. Tortosa meets with students twice a week for simulations and follow-up instruction. At the end, participants register with the Board of Pharmacy, sit for the pharmacy technician certification board exam and are placed into one of the system’s pharmacies.
The program started small, graduating 10 to 15 students a year. In the past couple of years, that number has grown to 18 to 20 annually, spread across three cohorts. The current pass rate is about 80%, and leaders are working to push it higher.
For Mr. Armitstead, the program is more than a recruitment pipeline. It’s a way to build a skilled, loyal workforce that can grow within the system. Technicians aren’t required to work for the organization after graduating, but many choose to. Their roles are also expanding beyond traditional dispensing functions. Technicians now work in medication history collection, data analysis, patient assistance programs and even milk lab operations, which involve carefully labeling and fortifying breast milk.
“Pharmacy technicians might traditionally be seen in retail or hospital pharmacy roles, but their expertise is increasingly needed in other areas,” Mr. Armitstead said. “We’ve created a career ladder so they can make a career out of being a pharmacy technician — technician 1, 2, 3, lead technician, supervisor — or they can branch into entirely different roles.”
Personalized mentorship is another defining feature. “Each one of these folks is individually mentored by Crystal,” he said. “It’s a very hard process to do by yourself. Not everybody gets the math right away. Not everybody gets the drug names right away. It really takes mentorship, encouragement and tutoring.”
Looking ahead, Ms. Tortosa said the focus is on growing the workforce and evolving the curriculum to match expanding technician responsibilities. “Pharmacy technicians do a lot more than what comes to mind when a normal person says, ‘pharmacy technician,'” she said. “We’re continuing to expand that.”
For a workforce problem that has stretched on for more than a decade, leaders see their program as a long-term solution. “Otherwise, in essence, you are going to be stealing a pharmacy technician from another pharmacy technician job,” Mr. Armitstead said. “We need to create an inflow.”
