Bluesight’s Third Annual Medication Intelligence Summit

As Vice President of Pharmacy – Chief Pharmacy Officer of Service Lines for Ochsner Health, Dr. Simonson has responsibility for the strategic vision, long term planning, direction, and overall accountability for pharmacy services across the system. She joined Ochsner in 1981 and has built the pharmacy program to include clinical services, education/academics, research, retail services, specialty pharmacy, population management, transitions of care, informatics, regulatory compliance, medication safety, logistics, and digital medicine support. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Xavier University of Louisiana. 

Dr. Simonson started her career with the Public Health Service. She has held many leadership roles with pharmacy associations/boards over the years. She has been a member of the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy and was named in the City Business’s 2015 Women of the Year.  Dr. Simonson received the Vizient Vision Award for Excellence in Executive Leadership in 2021.  In 2023, Dr. Simonson received the John W. Webb Lecture Awards from ASHP.

Dr. Williams-Lowe serves as Chief Pharmacy Officer, System Administrative Officer for the Pharmacy ICCE (Integrated Center of Clinical Excellence) for Medical University South Carolina (MUSC) Health and Senior Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs for the MUSC College of Pharmacy in Charleston, South Carolina. She provides oversight for pharmacy services across the MUSC Health System. 

Dr. Williams-Lowe has over 20 years of healthcare executive experience leading and transforming clinical and operational teams, implementing new pharmacy programs, practice models and training students and residents. She has served in ambulatory, retail, and hospital pharmacy roles and most recently in regional and system administrative roles at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System where she provided oversight for pharmacy hospital and clinic operations in New Hampshire and Vermont. 

Dr. Williams-Lowe has led several projects and teams to improve pharmacy practice, inventory management, medication safety, security, distribution, and administration. She has experience in establishing medication management infrastructure with supportive technology and automation across a health system, including medical and oncology infusion practices at academic medical centers, community hospitals and critical access hospitals. 

Dr. Williams-Lowe holds a Doctor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and a Master of Health Administration from Ohio University. She was selected and participated in the inaugural Carol Emmott Fellowship program for exceptional women leaders in health in 2017 and in 2021 earned the status of Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dr. Williams-Lowe received the MUSC Health 2023 Dean Golod Award in appreciation of her dedication and contributions to the Pharmacy Profession and the 2024 Excellence in Diversity Award from the Student National Pharmaceutical Association.

Her professional service includes terms as a former board member of the New Hampshire Society of Health-System Pharmacists and as a trustee on the Board for Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital. She served as a Community Health Ambassador for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Partners for Community Wellness bridging the gap between populations of color and healthcare leaders.

Dr. Williams-Lowe serves as a mentor for several professional organizations and is actively engaged in and committed to community outreach and advocating for health equity.

Dr. Alexandre Raymond is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, School of Pharmacy. He completed a Health-System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership residency at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with a Masters of Pharmaceutical Sciences focusing in Health-System Pharmacy Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He began his post-residency career as an operations supervisor at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. During his time as an operations supervisor, Alex led Ochsner Medical Center-New Orleans’ Drug Diversion Response Team which led to his current role of five years as the corporate Compliance Director for Ochsner Health’s Drug Diversion Prevention and Response network. Alex is an active member in the National Associate of Drug Diversion Investigators and the International Health Facility Diversion Association.

Dr. Naples is a Regional Pharmacy Director at University Hospitals and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Northeast Ohio Medical University. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy from Duquesne University in 2009, and most recently completed a Masters of Business Administration at Kent State University in 2015. He has been in pharmacy leadership positions ranging from store manager (2009-2013), Pediatric Pharmacist/Operations Coordinator at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital (2013-2016) to hospital pharmacy manager at UH Portage Medical Center (2016-2021) and Regional Pharmacy Director (2021-Present). In 2021 he was awarded the Timothy D. Moore Pharmacy Manager Of The Year from OSHP.

Andrew Brereton is Vice President of Corporate Sales at Tecsys Inc, a leader in Supply Chain Solutions for Healthcare.  Andrew has over 35 years of experience in Supply Chain technology, and over 20 years working directly with Pharmacy Leaders solving Supply Chain challenges.  Andrew has held multiple leadership positions at Tecsys Inc., including Chief Financial Officer and SVP Customer Services, giving him a deep understanding of the overall market.  Today, Andrew works closely with Pharmacy Leaders to leverage RFID technologies to provide complete inventory visibility.

Gee Mathen is the director of pharmacy clinical applications and technical services at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Previously, as assistant director of pharmacy applications and technical services, he managed a team of Epic Willow pharmacy experts who had just completed a 3-campus implementation of Epic® and Omnicell®.

Mr. Mathen received his degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Houston. His numerous certifications include Epic Willow certification; EpicCare® Inpatient certification; EpicCare Inpatient Decision Support Master’s certification; Advanced Quality Improvement and Patient Safety; and Resiliency Engineering and Patient Safety.

Mr. Mathen oversees the Technology, Inventory and Financial Teams for the Pharmacy at Texas Children’s. Mr. Mathen has been at Texas Children’s for 33 years and has a deep passion to improve the practice of Pharmacy by using technology.

Michele A Sheaffer, RPh, Associate Director of Pharmacy Operations at Jefferson Abington Hospital is a graduate from Rutgers College of Pharmacy. She has been practicing in hospital pharmacy since 1991.  In 2009, she began her career in pharmacy management and ultimately achieved her current Associate Director position. Collaboration and participation with multidisciplinary teams has led to her success in project implementation. She is a board member of Pennsylvania Society of Health- System Pharmacists BuxMont chapter and has served as President.   In recent years, she has been more actively involved with the optimization of automation technology to improve patient safety, streamline workflow and Waste optimization in an effort to minimize diversion. As chair of the Drug Diversion Prevention and Monitoring Committee, she has led system wide improvements in joint efforts with anesthesia and nursing.

Les Louden, PharmD, MS, BCPS is a Pharmacy Manager for BayCare Health System’s St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Florida. He has a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from East Tennessee State University and completed a Health-System Pharmacy Administration Residency at The Ohio State University. Dr. Louden is a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialists with interests in pharmacy automation technology, medication safety, and finance.

Peter Bloch is the North American Healthcare Market Development Manager at Avery Dennison, the world’s largest RFID partner. Peter has over 20 years of experience in the RFID industry, with a focus on developing and leading healthcare initiatives that provide real-time visibility and connection to IoT (Internet of Things).  Peter has spent his career managing relationships and developing programs with much of the RFID ecosystem, including: brand owners, pharma and med device manufacturers, airlines, converters, and systems integrators.