Pharmacists have long been recognized for the vital roles that they play in delivering vaccines and providing education to patients in their communities.
Pharmacists, in collaboration with physicians, public health officials, and other immunization health partners, are recognized as important members of the immunization neighborhood and are developing solutions to increase access to vaccines and other public health services.
Millions of vaccines are administered by pharmacists each year, and the COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the significance of the profession’s contributions to public health.
The profession’s dedication to meeting the public’s immunization needs and protecting people from vaccine-preventable diseases is evident in the work of this year’s nominees and the many thousands of immunizing pharmacists practicing in communities nationwide.
To celebrate the achievements of immunizing pharmacists, APhA’s Immunization Champion Awards recognize pharmacists, organizations, members of the pharmacy profession, and their allies who have made extraordinary contributions to increase vaccination rates in their communities.
The 2023 Immunization Champions, honored in March 2023 at the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Phoenix, have pioneered new approaches to increasing vaccination rates.
This year’s program was supported by CDC; GSK; Merck, Sharp & Dohme; Moderna; Pfizer; and Sanofi/Vaxserve.
Congratulations to all the award recipients!
Individual practitioner
These individuals exemplify pharmacists’ impact on patient care and positively portray the value of pharmacists’ public health activities.
National Winner
Chichi Ilonzo Momah, PharmD, RPh
Springfield Pharmacy & Medical Supply, Springfield, PA
Chichi Ilonzo Momah, PharmD, RPh, is a graduate of Temple University’s School of Pharmacy and has owned the Springfield Pharmacy in Springfield, PA, since 2012.
During the shortage of the new shingles vaccine in 2018, Momah partnered with a vaccine manufacturer to gain access and was the only pharmacy to stock the vaccine across multiple counties in her area.
Momah made waves in the spring of 2021 when her pharmacy was chosen as one of the first sites in Delaware County—the largest county in the nation without a public health department—to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Momah and the team at Springfield Pharmacy’s support of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout were featured locally and nationally, from HHS, Philadelphia’s FOX29, NBC Nightly News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and National Public Radio News.
Momah serves as a luminary to the Pennsylvania Pharmacy Care Network and as an advisory board member to the Elevate Pharmacy Services Administrative Organization and The Freckled Strawberry organizations. She is currently the only approved Vaccine For Children (VFC) pharmacy provider in the state of Pennsylvania.
She also partners with the Department of Health, local health departments, local community leaders, and various long-term care facilities to address vaccine hesitancy and run vaccine clinics.
Through her work—which she says is driven by her care philosophy of “leading with love”—Momah has proven that pharmacists are problem solvers, leaders, and above all, critical patient advocates.
Honorable Mention
Bridget Ogden, PharmD
Cub Pharmacy
Bridget Ogden, PharmD, received her doctorate degree from Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions in Omaha, NE. She is currently the clinical point person for Cub Pharmacy and serves as the primary preceptor for the Cub Pharmacy PGY-1 Residency Program. In this role, Ogden spearheads vaccination clinic efforts for Cub Pharmacy in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota area.
Ogden works to coordinate and schedule over 250 influenza vaccination clinics each year and added another 350 COVID-19 vaccination clinics in 2022.
Her most notable effort in the past 12 months is the partnership she forged with multiple pediatrician practices in the Twin Cities area. When the monovalent Pfizer vaccine for ages 5–11 years was going through the authorization process, Ogden started conversations with several pediatricians’ offices regarding their plans to vaccinate their patients. When it became clear that many well-established and successful pediatrician practices did not have the staffing resources to vaccinate this population in a timely fashion, Ogden partnered Cub Pharmacy with three pediatric clinic groups. Cub pharmacists and other credentialed immunizers went to the pediatric clinic to administer vaccinations in their exam rooms and spaces.
For the first round of first dose events alone, Ogden and other Cub Pharmacy immunizers vaccinated 1,500 children who otherwise would have experienced delayed access.
Honorable Mention
Renee Robinson, PharmD, MPH, MSPharm, MBA
Idaho State University,
College of Pharmacy, Pocatello, ID
Renee Robinson, PharmD, MPH, MSPharm, MBA, completed her doctorate in pharmacy at the University of Georgia and a fellowship in clinical research through NIH; she also has a degree in pediatric pharmacotherapy, and master’s degrees in epidemiology and in patient safety.
From 2002 to 2006, she conducted research as faculty in the Department of Pediatrics at Idaho State University (ISU), studying medication adherence and decision-making. In 2008, Robinson joined the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) conducting health research with and for tribal communities in Alaska. In 2018, she joined University of Alaska Anchorage/ISU College of Pharmacy as an associate professor pursuing external research funding to address health disparities through health technology.
Robinson has received many professional awards, including USPHS Junior Pharmacist of the Year, Distinguished Alaskan Pharmacist Award, and Pharmacy Times Educator of the Year, and she has worked on a number of immunization efforts such as the Pediatric Ebola Vaccination Trial in Liberia, the Assisted Living Home Immunization event in Alaska, ProjectPak efforts to vaccinate children in the HeadStart program, and partnering with the Navigators to support public health and pharmacy immunization initiatives.
Community outreach
This award recognizes individuals who have made substantial progress in improving the health of their communities.
National Winner
Kevin W. Cleveland, PharmD, ANP
Idaho State University College of Pharmacy, Pocatello, ID
Kevin W. Cleveland, PharmD, ANP, is an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at ISU College of Pharmacy. He earned his PharmD from ISU and completed a clinical pharmacy residency in drug information at the Idaho Drug Information Center. He has been a member of the ISU faculty for 19 years and has been involved with experiential education for the past 9 years. His specialty areas include pharmacy-delivered immunizations, medication therapy management, drug information, and nuclear pharmacy.
For 8 years, Cleveland served on the Executive Board for the Idaho Immunization Coalition and held several leadership positions including chair of the executive board. The coalition created a long-term sustainability plan to secure the longevity of their successful vaccination mission in Idaho during his leadership tenure.
Cleveland coordinates the ISU College of Pharmacy’s pharmacy-delivered immunization training, health screenings, immunization clinics, and educational sessions. Over the last 3 years, he has worked with numerous community health care partners on statewide vaccination efforts including coordinating drive-through influenza clinics, COVID-19 vaccination clinics, and increasing vaccination rates in underserved populations in rural Idaho.
Honorable Mention
Uri Bassan, BSPharm
Best Buy Drugs and Rx Innovations, Albuquerque, NM
Uri Bassan, BSPharm, graduated from the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy in 1998 with a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy. Bassan was already conducting large pop-up vaccination clinics before the pandemic and used that experience to bring the COVID-19 vaccine to rural New Mexico. His efforts were so successful that the New York Times featured a story about the program on Thanksgiving Day in 2021.
In 2022, Bassan transformed a New Mexico immunization program that began before COVID-19 and grew exponentially during the pandemic to what is now a model program for how to overcome challenges of a diverse and rural population.
Prior to COVID-19, Bassan was a pharmacy manager at a grocery chain and responsible for coordinating their on-site vaccination program. When COVID-19 began, because of his previous relationship with senior centers, assisted living centers, and nursing homes, he was contacted by the New Mexico Department of Aging, a state program, to partner with and to support and scale COVID-19 vaccine administration in the northern part of New Mexico. With his team, he set up vaccination clinics at senior centers, churches, and businesses all over the state, traveling to more than 100 cities and towns.
By the end of 2021, the grocery store chain no longer wanted to support the vaccine program, but the demand for vaccines was higher than ever. Bassan thus start his own business. Working with a local, well-established independent pharmacy (Best Buy Drugs), Uri has taken vaccinating the state of New Mexico to a whole new level. His team of more than 100 employees including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, medics, physicians, and nurses covers half the state of New Mexico by going to schools, churches, senior centers, assisted living facilities, and other places in the community where people need vaccines.
Corporation/Institution
Focusing on wellness, prevention, and the creation of systems of care, the winners in this category have facilitated the development of practice models supporting pharmacists’ immunization roles.
National Winner
Cub Pharmacies’
Clinical Programs Team
Cub Pharmacy’s established relationship with state and local public health departments became critical as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and they continued to partner with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Hennepin County Public Health to expand and support access to vaccinations. Cub Pharmacies is dedicated to vaccinating the underserved, and often marginalized, members of the communities.
Cub Pharmacies cohosted several mass vaccination events with Hennepin County at local public libraries. The events were open to all regardless of insurance status. Cub Pharmacies collaborated with a local nonprofit, Encouraging Leaders, which supports projects that focus on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color youth residing in the poorest neighborhoods in Minneapolis and around the Twin Cities, particularly in neighborhoods with a high crime rate. Cub Pharmacies held multiple events at Encouraging Leaders headquarters, offering hundreds of participants an opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID-19, flu, and receive other routine immunizations.
These successful partnerships and Cub Pharmacies’ ability to provide a respectful and seamless experience for participants ultimately lead to a partnership with UCare, a nonprofit health plan company which enabled the establishment of another six underserved vaccination clinic partnerships.
Cub Pharmacies’ efforts were recognized at a state level by both the MDH and the Minnesota governor’s office. In an introductory email between the MDH and a county public health coordinator, MDH stated “Cub played a pivotal role in the early vaccination of teachers last winter and they’ve been very active in our mission of health equity in the response.”
Honorable Mention
Stanford Health Care IBD
Clinical Pharmacy Team
San Francisco, CA
The Stanford Health Care (SHC) Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Clinical Pharmacy Program was established in 2018. Initially, one pharmacist worked alongside two IBD providers (doctors and physician assistants) during their patient visits, discussing new medications and vaccine recommendations based on current health maintenance guidelines for IBD patients who have increased risk of infection due to their condition.
Only 52% of gastroenterologists get an accurate vaccination history from their patients, and primary care physicians are often unaware of the additional vaccination recommendations involved in treating IBD. This leaves a significant gap in providing necessary vaccinations. The most common infections that lead to hospitalization of patients with IBD are vaccine-preventable, such as pneumonia and shingles.
After a short time of working in clinics, the SHC IBD Clinical Pharmacy Team aimed to provide all of their patients with IBD knowledge of the recommended vaccines and access to obtain them. After creating approved vaccination guidelines for patients and a Pharmacist Collaborative Practice Agreement (CPA), SHC adjusted their care model to provide a health maintenance consultation to all new patients and opened services to all IBD providers and their patients on a referral basis to reach existing patients in need of vaccination consultation.
SHC’s IBD program has five clinic locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, composed of a multidisciplinary team of nine IBD prescribers who see approximately 3,500 patients per year.
Pharmacy Team Member
This award recognizes individuals who are not pharmacists but have advocated for immunization efforts and pharmacist-delivered immunizations, including pharmacy technicians, store managers, or other support staff. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these individuals were even more critical to providing care to our communities, and we thank each of them for their collaboration, commitment, and support.
National Winner
Amber Coleman, CPhT
Walgreens
Amber Coleman, CPhT, started as a pharmacy technician in 2004 with Price Chopper in the Kansas City Metro Area. In 2012, after moving to the Gulf Coast area, Amber continued her passion of working in the pharmaceutical area with Kessler Air Force Base before accepting a position with Walgreens in 2014.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing flu seasons, Amber has provided endless support to Walgreens pharmacies in the state of Mississippi. Starting in March 2021, Walgreens received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and Amber sprang into action by providing support to the community as well as to pharmacists. Her work was critical in setting up and coordinating vaccine administration to long-term care facilities within the state. She was able to set up clinic dates, initiate clinic agreements, procure vaccines, and coordinate with pharmacists to help them administer the COVID-19 vaccines in an efficient and safe manner.
Alongside her role in provided the COVID-19 vaccine, Amber also helps schedule and complete yearly flu vaccine clinics. These flu clinics protect patients in long-term care facilities, local schools, and local businesses. Since starting her role as vaccine, she has helped and supported the protection of over 5,000 patients from COVID-19 and the flu.
Amber has received the Walgreens Champion of Champions Award, Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) Educator for the Mississippi District, and 2022 Pharmacy Technician of the Year Award from the Minnesota Pharmacists Association.
Honorable Mention
David (Nate) Ryder, CPhT
Walgreens
David (Nate) Ryder, CPhT, has been a team member at Walgreens since February 2022. He quickly became PTCB-certified and an immunizer
Ryder approached his immunizing role seriously and helped promote many COVID-19 shots with each flu shot he administered. For example, Ryder helped organize a clinic at Ramsey Solutions and assisted the pharmacist in immunizing the entire staff of 200 in 1 day. The pharmacy has currently immunized close to 3,300 patients for COVID-19 since March 2022 and exceeded their goal for flu shots in early November 2022.
Ryder’s confidence and congenial bedside manner in the patient room have often brought back patients asking specifically for him. Walgreens’ pharmacists can confidently perform their other daily tasks knowing that Ryder has immunizations locked down.
Travel health
National Winner
Beverly Schaefer, BSPharm
Katterman’s Sand Point Pharmacy, Seattle, WA
Beverly Schaefer, BSPharm, was named one of APhA’s Next Ten Women in Pharmacy, which prompted her staff to create a “Vaccine Queen” window display highlighting many of Beverly’s awards.
Katterman’s Pharmacy offers a complete line of travel immunizations and medications for travelers of all ages, including infants, and educates people about vaccines that would be most appropriate for their travel needs. Many Seattle businesses and organizations refer travel appointments to Katterman’s, making it an immunization champion year round, providing about 15,000 immunizations annually.
Special recognition
Mitchel C. Rothholz, BSPharm, MBA, former APhA Chief of Governance & State Affiliates and Executive Director, APhA Foundation, was recognized for his many years of support for the APhA Immunization Champion Awards.
For nearly 3 decades, Rothholz has been responsible for coordination of APhA’s strategic plan, governance and policy development activities, and public health initiatives. As a leader in both the immunization and pharmacy professions, Rothholz has been nationally recognized as an expert on pharmacy-based immunization delivery and as an advocate for the profession of pharmacy on numerous issues.
To download the 2023 Immunization Champion Awards program and view awardee videos, visit the APhA Immunization Resource Center at www.pharmacist.com/immunization-center. ■
Immunization delivery training available
APhA’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certificate training program is based on national educational standards for immunization training from the CDC. This practice-based curriculum represents a fusion of science and clinical pharmacy and emphasizes a health care team approach, seeking to foster the implementation of interventions that will promote disease prevention and public health. The purpose of this certificate training program is to prepare pharmacists with comprehensive knowledge, skills, and resources necessary to provide immunization services to patients across the life span.
More information is available at pharmacist.com/Education/Certificate-Training-Programs/Immunization