NEWS
Drake Pharmacy Alumni Elected to IPA Leadership
In an electronic ballot, the membership of the Iowa Pharmacy Association, an organization formed to advance the practice of pharmacy in Iowa through education and research, elected seven pharmacists to serve as officers and trustees for the 2009-2010 administrative year at the last meeting in Cedar Rapids, IA including the following Drake alumni: Bob Stessman, President; Renae Chesnut, President-Elect; Kyle Peters, Region 2 Trustee; Kevin Cassatt, Region 4 Trustee; Brian Benson, Trustee at large; Katherine (KAP) Linder, Trustee at large; and Rockford Anderson, Trustee at large (biographical information follows below). New board member biographical information is provided below. Congratulations to the new Board members; their service to Iowa pharmacy is important and appreciated. Also pictured are Kyle Peters, Region 2 Trustee; Kevin Cassatt, Region 4 Trustee, Katherine (KAP) Linder, Trustee at large and student pharmacist representatives, Ben Urick, Drake 'P2, and Farah Towfic, Iowa Student.
President
Bob Stessman '82
Bob co-owns and operates Manning Pharmacy, Inc. with his wife Lois in Manning, IA. He is the consultant pharmacist for the Manning Family Recovery Center, Manning Regional Healthcare Center, and a member of a consulting team for Manning Plaza Long Term Care Center.
Stessman is also the staff pharmacist for Manning Regional Healthcare Center. He assists with pharmacist services for New Hope Village and Quakerdale group homes in Manning. Bob is a graduate of Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Bob served on Drake’s National Advisory Board and has been a guest lecturer. Stessman is a member of IPA, APhA, NCPA, ASHP, NACDS and Southwest Iowa Pharmacists Association. He has served on the Manning Development Foundation, chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Rotary, and Past President of the Chamber of Commerce.
Bob is a past participant in the Young Pharmacist Leadership Conference. He has served the following IPA committees: Young Pharmacists, Legislative, Professional and Public Affairs and several task force meetings. Stessman held positions as chair of the Academy of Pharmacy Practice, and Speaker of the House of Delegates and has served as the IPA treasurer for 2 years.
President-Elect
Renae Chesnut '85
Renae is Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs and Associate Professor at Drake University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She received her bachelors in pharmacy and masters in business administration degrees in 1985, and in 1998 a doctorate in educational leadership, all from Drake University. She serves as coordinator of Drake’s Developing Skills in Diabetes Care certificate program, and is a team leader for Drake’s DELTA Rx Institute Team.
Her IPA involvement includes service on the Iowa Pharmacy Recovery Network (IPRN), and the 2000-2002 Board of Trustees, representing Region 3. Chesnut is a past participant of the Iowa Pharmacy Leadership Conference and has completed the AACP Leadership Fellows program.
In addition to involvement in IPA, Renae is a member of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP). She is a past president of the Central Iowa Pharmacists Association (CIPA), and a member of the Healthy Iowans 2010 Diabetes Chapter Team as well as AACP’s Professional Affairs Committee. She is a previous chair of the Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) Task Force, a previous chair of the AACP Student Services Special Interest Group, and was a founding member of the AACP Centralized Admission Service Task Force.
Trustee At Large
Brian Benson '96
Brian D. Benson is the Pharmacy Operations Manager for Iowa Methodist and Blank Children’s Hospital. Brian graduated from Drake University in 1996 and received his Pharm.D. from the University of Kansas in 2006.
Brian has practiced in retail pharmacy in addition to his primary focus of health-system pharmacy.Brian is a member of IPA, ASHP, past vice president of the Iowa Pain Institute, Treasurer and Past President of Central Iowa Pharmacists Association. Brian has been programming committee chair for ASHP’s Inpatient Care Practitioners section for 2 years and is currently Director-at-Large for this section. Brian is also a member of IPA’s Health-System Liaison Board.
Trustee At Large
Rockford Anderson '06
Rockford is a 2006 graduate of Drake University College of Pharmacy. Rocky was the pharmacy manager for a small 15 bed hospital and a chain pharmacy for the first 2 years out of school in and around Mason City. The Kmart pharmacy that Rocky worked in for the last 2 years has added many new clinical services. They are the only Kmart pharmacy now billing for Iowa Medicaid case management. Kmart also now bills MTM services through Outcomes, Mirixa, and is the lead store on a new Lipitor adherence program through Pfizer. Kmart also now offers pharmacist administered influenza and herpes zoster vaccines.
Rocky bought his first community pharmacy in Clarion, IA in October 2008, and hopes to bring similar clinical services to Clarion.
Rocky has also continued to further his clinical knowledge by attending ACCP’s anticoagulation training program, and attending the Breathe Easy (COPD and Asthma) event through the CEI institute.
Rocky has been involved in IPA and served on committees since his second professional year at Drake. Rocky feels that it is very important to support and be part of such an important and influential organization. The Iowa Pharmacy Association is the state society representing the profession of pharmacy, united for the purpose of advancing public health, particularly the pharmaceutical care of all Iowans. The Iowa Pharmacy Association is organized to preserve and advance the interests of the profession and to serve the professional needs of all pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians.