The Pharmacy at the Southern Ute Health Care Center has had many changes this past year to better serve the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and its members. There have been staff additions, new clinical programs, expanded formulary for all natives, and many additions to the enrolled Southern Ute tribal member formulary.
We have a wonderful staff with a combined 82 years of diverse experience in the pharmacy field.
Pharmacy Staff
Paige Kapp is our newest pharmacist, joining our team here in February. She lives in Durango with her husband, Jake, and two young children, Cecilia and Harrison. She is currently developing our Clinical Pharmacy program in which she will be spending more one-on-one time with patients at the clinic, helping them meet their health goals. She is always happy to talk with our patients about their medications, and address any questions or concerns.
Emily Flores, Pharmacist, was born and raised in Durango. She attended pharmacy school in Denver and lived there for 19 years. Emily worked in a small retail pharmacy for four years and then worked for the state for 12 years at a long-term-care facility and psychiatric hospital as the Pharmacy Director. Emily, her husband and two daughters moved back to live next door to her parents when she started working for the Southern Ute Health Center in June 2012.
Denise Turner has worked as a pharmacy tech for about 15 years in multiple settings, the hospital in Vail Colo., City Market in Pagosa Springs, and at Mercy Regional for the last 7 years. She lives in Arboles with her husband and they have 2 daughters who live in Durango. Denise came to the Health Center in May 2014.
Phyllis Rhodes, pharmacy Tech, was born and raised in Cortez, Colo., and after completing high school in Cortez she spent three years in nursing school at Mesa State College in Grand Junction Colo. She left school to become a wife and mother, one of her greatest accomplishments. She has over 15 years of experience in pharmacy, and came to work at the Southern Ute Health Center a little over a year ago.
Angela Rose is the Pharmacy Director and comes to the Tribe with 27 years of experience. She moved to the area 5 years ago from Arkansas. She worked for the Tribe as a contractor for almost four years before becoming the pharmacy director in December 2013. Before that she was the pharmacy manager at Ozarks Medical Center Employee Pharmacy in West Plains MO. Angela is married and has 2 sons, one lives in Durango and one is attending Arkansas State University.
New and expanded services
The pharmacy is starting a Clinical Pharmacy program, which will give patients one-on-one time to talk with Pharmacist, Paige Kapp, about their medications for dosage adjustments, clarifications or side effects.
The first two clinics we will be starting will be for Anti-Coagulation therapy and Smoking Cessation, which will come no later than January 2015. We will be attending the Health Fair with additional information on how to get involved in these programs.
The pharmacy has expanded the formulary this year to provide a larger variety of products for all Native Americans. If you have been purchasing medication from local pharmacies because the medication was not on the formulary; you might want to contact the pharmacy to see if your medication was added to the formulary this past year.
Tribal health benefit pharmacy update
With the current changes to the Southern Ute Tribal Health Benefit Pharmacy Plan your Health Center Pharmacy will be ordering medications to take care of the enrolled members.
You may call the pharmacy to inquire about getting all your medications filled at the clinic so you don’t have to travel to Durango or Bayfield for medication.
The new plan will require the use of mail order after 3 fills of a long-term medication at a local pharmacy or you may use the Southern Ute Health Center Pharmacy instead of mail order.
Call the pharmacy staff for more information on obtaining your prescriptions at the Health Center. We would love to serve you.
Using the Health Center Pharmacy will help in reducing the cost of your benefit plan because of the buying power and programs the Southern Ute Indian Tribe uses.
The Pharmacy is here to take care of you and your medication needs. Each member of the staff is competent, friendly and eager to serve. Come by and get to know the staff, ask questions and let us know how we can better serve you.