SPOKANE, Wash.—Tom Menighan, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), will be the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony of the Washington State University College of Pharmacy at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, May 4, at the Martin Woldson Theater.
The APhA is the nation’s largest professional association for pharmacists. The organization has been front and center in the initiative to see pharmacists recognized as health care providers, especially by insurance companies that routinely refuse to reimburse pharmacists for the growing number of services they provide. In 2015 legislation was passed in Washington requiring insurance carriers to recognize pharmacists in the same way as other providers, but not all states have this kind of legislation in place.
This will be Menighan’s second time to WSU in Spokane. He was one of the first presenters of the college’s Preparing for Your Career in Pharmacy Seminar Series in 2013. The seminars support the college’s mission to educate outstanding health care professionals and expose student pharmacists to current pharmacy leaders across the country who are driving innovation, advancing health care practice, and improving people’s lives.
Menighan has been involved with the APhA for over three decades, first as an invited speaker, a senior staff member, then as a volunteer on the board of trustees and even serving a term as elected president from 2001 to 2002. In addition to his work with APhA, Menighan is a pharmacy owner and business entrepreneur. He founded several companies including a Medicine Shoppe pharmacy in West Verginia, and SynTegra Solutions Inc, a company that provided auditing, consulting and health technology services based in Maryland. Menighan also founded SymRx Inc, developed CornerDrugstore.com, and is currently a partner in the multi-state specialty pharmacy chain Pharmacy Associates Inc.
Menighan’s selection as the commencement speaker for pharmacy maintains the college’s practice to bring thought leaders to campus. Previous keynote speakers include former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, former FDA administrator Susan C. Winckler, and prior to that Rear Adm. Scott Giberson, a deputy surgeon general and pharmacist.
Full details on the WSU College of Pharmacy commencement ceremony can be found online.
[Lori J. Maricle] 3/31/17
updated 4/26/17