Karen L.Reed, BS Pharm, CDCES, CTTS

Karen Reed is Director of Pharmacy for New River Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center, serving four counties in West Virginia. In addition to the oversight of four in-house pharmacies and ten contract pharmacies, she is the certified diabetes care and education specialist for the center. She is among four pharmacists certified as a tobacco treatment specialist. New River Health was chosen to pilot a program with UVA regarding tobacco cessation with federally qualified health center pharmacists. This was due to the pharmacists’ training and involvement prior to the project’s inception.

Karen began an immunization program with pharmacists and now trained technicians to assist in improving rates of immunization and our quality scores. Karen and the other nine pharmacists provide diabetes, cholesterol, and hypertension education completing our first fifteen weeks of FARMacy RX for low income patients identified with chronic diseases. The 2025 session has been approved for funding.

Karen is preparing a program with Target BP to educate patients about hypertension and stroke prevention to begin in February. This will involve multiple disciplines in the organization. She has two pharmacists leading MTM for patient adherence. Pill packaging is offered at no cost for all patients interested. Karen and the New River Health team believe in using the 340B savings for patient education, healthy options, and adherence monitoring programs.

Karen is a past APhA Board of Trustees member, American Pharmacists’ Month Spokesperson, and APhA Foundation Capital Campaign Co-Chair for Women in Pharmacy raising $250,000 at a grassroots level. West Virginia University named her to the Inaugural Hall of Fame in 2014 and as an Honoree Women in Pharmacy 2006. She is past President of West Virginia Pharmacist’s Association, Bowl of Hygeia recipient, Kmart Pharmacist of the Year, and in 2023 was named the first recipient of the Thomas E. Menighan Lifetime Achievement Award. Karen is married to Roger Reed, a pharmacist. They have one son and two grandsons. She has been an active member of a community service organization, Quota Club, since 1982 and serves her church as an Elder.