Please review the candidates for the 2019-2020 VPhA Board of Directors below and then cast your ballot. Pursuant to VPhA Bylaws, members only vote for statewide candidates and directors from their region.
Because ballots vary by region, please find the link to your specific ballot in the email you received from VPhA. Questions? Please email info@virginiapharmacists.org.
Deadline for ballots is Friday, June 28, 2019. All ballots will remain strictly confidential.
Winners from the 2019 election will be installed at the VPhA 138th Annual Convention in August.
President
Kelly Goode
Elected as President-Elect in the 2018 Board of Directions election.
President-Elect
Sarah Barden
Sarah Barden is a 2015 graduate of VCU’s School of Pharmacy. Prior to completing her PharmD, she worked for several years in training and development and then marketing for a company in Lynchburg, during which she also completed an MBA from Lynchburg College in 2008. She completed a BS in Biology from Duke University in 2002. After graduating with her PharmD, she completed an Executive Fellowship with the Michigan Pharmacists Association (MPA) and then became the Director of Business Development working for MPA’s for-profit subsidiary, Pharmacy Services Inc. (PSI), that supported independent pharmacies in Michigan. Sarah returned back to Virginia in 2017 to join Kaleo, Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Richmond, as a Medical Information Specialist. She quickly transitioned into her current role as the Manager of Pharmacovigilance, working closely with the Quality Assurance team, to monitor the safety and efficacy of the company’s products to ensure public safety. She is passionate about the roles that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play in patient care, especially as they impact public health and help address the many challenges facing healthcare today. She has been active in state and national pharmacy associations since she entered the profession as a student pharmacist and believes associations are fundamental to advancing pharmacy.
Holly Morris
Holly received her Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy in 1995 from the School of Pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia, graduating Summa Cum Laude. After graduating she returned home to work at Crittenden’s Drug, Inc., an independent pharmacy that her family owned since 1974, located in Crewe, Virginia. After becoming a more seasoned pharmacist and learning the business side of pharmacy, Holly became President of Crittenden’s Drug and Pharmacist in Charge. In 2017, the store was sold to another independent owner. Holly was born into pharmacy with both of her parents being pharmacists. She has learned the importance of her profession and its impact in a small community.
Holly served as a member and Chair of the Prescription Monitoring Program’s Advisory Committee. She also represented pharmacy as a member of ConnectVirginia’s advisory panel, Virginia’s Health Information Exchange. Holly has been active in the Virginia Pharmacists Association, serving as Secretary/Treasurer for five terms, as well as a Regional Director and local president. She currently serves on the VPhA Finance Committee and serves on the Academy of Independent Pharmacists Board of Directors. She was recognized for her efforts with the Ed D. Spearbeck Virginia Pharmacist Service Award in 2010.
Holly has been active in her community. She has served as President of the Crewe-Burkeville Chamber of Commerce and she is Vice Chair of Crewe United Methodist Church’s Leadership Board. She recently joined the Board of Directors for the Southside Virginia Family YMCA located in Farmville, Virginia. Holly plays volleyball in a recreational volleyball league, and she also enjoys traveling, cooking, and reading. Holly and her husband, Wesley, reside in Jetersville, Virginia.
Autumn Wells
Autumn earned her Doctorate in Pharmacy from Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2003. She continued to further her education by completing a Masters of Business Administration from the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University in 2004. Simultaneously completing a ASHP accredited Community Pharmacy Residency with Kerr Drug and Campbell University in 2004.
After completing her residency and education, Autumn returned to Southwest Virginia to serve alongside her father at their independent pharmacy in Big Stone Gap. While at Family Drug, Autumn has brought many clinical opportunities to the rural area that she serves including vaccines, medication therapy management, diabetes education, diabetic shoe fitting, chronic care disease counseling, injection administration, and in-home patient visits.
Autumn has been an active member of the Virginia Pharmacists Association since graduating pharmacy school. She has served as past Region A director for two terms, local association president, and Co-chair of the legislative committee for one term, as well as serving on the legislative committee for much longer. In 2009 she received the Distinguished Young Pharmacist’s Award, in 2011 she received the Next Generation Pharmacist Industry Advocate of the Year Award, and was honored with the Generation Rx Champions Award 2018.
Autumn is passionate about pharmacy and the future of pharmacy. She is dedicated to her patients, her profession, and her community. She is an active member of the Big Stone Gap Lion’s Club and the East Stone Gap United Methodist Church. She enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and spending time with her family.
Secretary/Treasurer
Sam Silek
Sam is a native of Front Royal, Virginia with over 35 years of pharmacy experience. He performed his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia and graduated magna cum laude from the Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy. As a registered pharmacist, Sam worked for several years in the retail marketplace. As pharmacy supervisor for SupeRx, he had oversight of more than twenty retail pharmacies. He also assisted management in leading the organization in the Roanoke market during an extensive and unprecedented period of growth. In 1990, he relocated to Cincinnati, where he was responsible for the pharmacy pricing for more than 480 SupeRx stores. In 1991 Sam returned to Roanoke, VA in the capacity of Store Manager for SupeRx and for Revco. In 1995 Sam Joined National Diabetic Pharmacies as the Pharmacy Director. He served as Vice President of Operations from 1997 until 2005 when PolyMedica, the parent company of Liberty Medical Supply, purchased National Diabetic Pharmacies. Sam served as VP of Operations after the acquisition and as Senior Vice President of Managed Care.
Currently Sam works for Senseonics, a medical device manufacturer headquartered in Germantown, MD. Sam has served the VPhA Board of Directors as the as the Secretary/Treasurer since 2016 and previously as Region B Director
Sam is married to Dawn, and they have two children, Samuel, age 24 and Andrew, age 22. Sam is also active in his community. He serves on the school board at Roanoke Catholic School, and has been a member of Rotary International since 1983.
Region B
Tony Pratt
Robert A. “Tony” Pratt is Director of Pharmacy for Piedmont Access to Health Services (PATHS) in Danville, Virginia. He is a graduate of VCU/MCV School of Pharmacy and has practiced in the retail, hospital and long term care settings. While the owner of Martinsville Family Pharmacy, he served on Cardinal Health’s National Retail Advisory Board and Managed Care Advisory Board advocating for independent pharmacy. In 2010, he received a Governor’s award for volunteerism for his efforts to provide affordable medications in his community through cooperation with multiple agencies, benevolent organizations and the local free clinic. In his current position, managing 340B pharmacy services for PATHS’ five clinic sites and two pharmacies in Southside Virginia, he continues to work to provide medications to uninsured and under-insured patients of the region.
Jamie Remines
Jamie Remines is a Pharmacy Practice Coordinator for the Mid-Atlantic Division of Kroger Health and Wellness. Jamie received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Medical College of Virginia campus of the Virginia Commonwealth University. After graduation, she moved to Roanoke, VA to work for Kroger Pharmacy. Jamie worked as floater, staff, pharmacist-in-charge, and district Patient Care Coordinator before being promoted to her current position. As Patient Care Coordinator, Jamie worked with area Kroger pharmacies to train, promote, initiate, engage, and perfect pharmacy clinical programs such as MTM, adherence monitoring, medication synchronization, travel health, diabetes management, and immunizations. Jamie is active in Kroger Pharmacy task groups and committees across the company, as well as within the profession. Jamie was a site coordinator and preceptor for the VCU/Kroger PGY-1 Community Pharmacy Practice Residency program from 2016-2018. Jamie is a preceptor for pharmacy students from all Virginia schools of pharmacy since 2010. Jamie has been active in APhA by taking on roles such as poster judging, abstract reviewing, participation in the House of Delegates, and serving as education co-chair for the Immunization SIG. Jamie has volunteered as a bias, CE, and chapter reviewer for healthcare journals and abstract writer for PubMed. Jamie is married to her high school sweetheart, Jared, and they have two amazing children (Lyla, 7 and Grady, 2). In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with her family (especially to Disney), reading, and pool time/cookouts in the warmer months.
Region C
Stephen Anderson
I live in Forest, VA (Right outside of Lynchburg, VA) with my wife and 2 kids.
Graduated from MCV/VCU Pharmacy School 2010.
Practiced as a Consultant Pharmacist for Omnicare from 2010 to 2013.
I’ve been practicing as an independent pharmacist since 2013 at Halifax Pharmacy in South Boston, VA. As an independent, I feel that I am able to devote more of my time to my patient’s care and well-being.
I feel that serving on the Board of Directors would allow for opportunity to give an independent pharmacist’s perspective on issues facing pharmacist in Virginia.
Jodi Ettare
Jodi Ettare is a Lynchburg native and received a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Virginia Tech. After receiving her Pharmacy Doctorate, Jodi Ettare completed a residency in Pharmacy Primary Care through affiliation with the University of North Carolina and New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC. She has been an Associate Editor for Pharmacists Letter, an educator at the Lynchburg Family Medicine Residency Program, a retail pharmacy manager, and a hospital pharmacist prior to joining the family business currently operating as Timberlake Health and Wellness, a PCAB-Accredited Compounding Pharmacy, previously known as Timberlake Family Pharmacy. Due to the current climate of independent retail pharmacy, she and her pharmacist husband, Vince, had to make the difficult decision recently to sell the retail portion of their pharmacy business, renaming it in the process. She has enjoyed serving as Region C Director for the last 2 years and hopes to have the opportunity to continue to be for the next two years. She is proud to be a Girl Scout Leader to approximately 20 young girls ranging from Kindergarten to 7th grade, including 3 of her own. She is an active member of Timberlake United Methodist Church and volunteers in many roles including the Children’s Ministry program and by participating in the Praise and Worship Band. Jodi enjoys singing, piano, watching her children perform or play sports, and spending time with her family and friends.
Region E
John Seymour
John W. Seymour received his B.S. in Pharmacy from Medical College of Virginia – Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Pharmacy in 1983. In 2005, John ventured into the world of independent pharmacy after working for various corporations for 22 years. John currently co-owns and operates three stores: Orange Pharmacy in Orange, VA, Elkton Family Pharmacy in Elkton, VA and Your Gordonsville Pharmacy in Gordonsville, VA.
As a pharmacist at all three pharmacies, he is actively involved in immunizations, glucose monitoring, patient education and counseling, Medicare D counseling, MTM, and community outreach. John has a passion for his patients and promoting independent pharmacy. To that end, he has served for the last 5 years as Chairman of the Academy of Independent Pharmacists. He is a Regional Advisor for Compliant Pharmacy Alliance (CPA) for the states of Virginia and West Virginia and works with other independents to improve their businesses.
John has been active in local and state associations over the years. Most recently working on the PBM task force, ED search committee, and the DMAS group. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Virginia Pharmacists Association and has served in this position before. He has been and continues to be legislatively active to further healthcare and the profession of pharmacy over the years, and has been an advocate for pharmacists and patient care.
John lives in Ruckersville Virginia with his wife Mary. He has 2 sons Brian age 22 and Mark age 20 in college at UVA and VA Tech respectively. John and his family are actively involved and members of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Charlottesville Virginia. In his spare time, he enjoys time with family and friends, computers, traveling, hiking, and sports.
Region I
Anne Hutchens
Anne Hutchens is the owner of Hidenwood Pharmacy in Newport News, Virginia. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary (1986) and the MCV/VCU School of Pharmacy (1989). Anne is a second-generation independent pharmacist, daughter of Tom Hutchens MCV/VCU (1962) from whom she learned to practice and love the profession. Anne strongly believes in the role of the pharmacist in our modern healthcare delivery system as pharmacists remain the most trusted of and, in many instances, the healthcare professionals most accessible to patients. In her time off Anne loves to jet ski and listen to live music.
Scott Newman
Headlines today are frequently about the cost of medications, healthcare access, and the opioid crisis. It is not uncommon for our community to seek answers from a trusted pharmacy professional. My goal is to assist neighbors of the community to navigate the complicated prescription drug system. I provide cost saving options while collaborating to ensure opiates are used appropriately and those whom seek help can obtain it. I assist my community through servant leadership. I make every effort to learn about people and their families establishing the Pharmacist-Patient relationship that is missing at the high-volume, corporate owned pharmacies.
I understand everyone has their own unique set of healthcare challenges, financial capabilities, education level, and that some may require more of my time than others. I offer the best prices on prescription medications by seeking out the best medication wholesale prices. I have stayed informed and active on legislation including PBM regulation and the opioid crisis. I maintain certifications in CPR, immunization, non-sterile compounding, and current pharmacotherapies.
My educational background includes a BS in Chemistry from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA and a Doctorate in Pharmacy from the Medical College of VA at VCU in Richmond, VA. I opened Newman Family Pharmacy in April of 2013 and my prior work experiences have included 14 years in chain retail pharmacy and 3 years in long-term care pharmacy.
Technician Director
Meredith Ayers
Meredith has worked in independent pharmacy for 20 years, has been a certified pharmacy technician for 15 years and is currently the administrative coordinator at Bremo Pharmacy. She has extensive experience in a multitude of pharmacy areas such as retail, long term care, PBMs, DME, compounding, and marketing. Meredith is a long time member of VPhA and currently serves on the marketing committee. She is also working with the NCPA advisory board as a technician contributor.
Zac Yowell
I graduated from Radford University in 2016 with a Bachelors of Business Administration degree with a concentration in management. I began working in pharmacy in 2011 at Orange Pharmacy in Orange, Virginia. Upon graduating from college I have been managing Your Gordonsville Pharmacy in Gordonsville, Virginia.
Being a pharmacy technician has been very rewarding for me and I love the hometown feel of working for an independent pharmacy.