Are Drugs or Alcohol Affecting Your Life?
Need to talk to someone confidentially about getting help for yourself or a loved one?
VaPAPP is available to any pharmacist, student pharmacist or pharmacy technician whose health and effectiveness has been significantly impaired by alcohol or drug addiction. Help for you or for a loved one is a phone call away!
Call the help line at (804) 285-4145 and ask for VaPAPP or contact us by email at VaPAPP@virginiapharmacists.org.
Messages left on the VaPAPP Help Line are strictly confidential and retrieved only by VaPAPP committee members.
VaPAPP is dedicated to the early identification and intervention of impaired pharmacists, student pharmacists and pharmacy technician in Virginia.
Virginia Pharmacists Aiding Pharmacists Program
2530 Professional Road
Richmond, VA 23235
VaPAPP@virginiapharmacists.org
About VaPAPP
Mission
Since 1984, the mission of the Virginia Pharmacists Aiding Pharmacists Program (VaPAPP) is to provide education, save lives, and protect the public. The Virginia Pharmacists Aiding Pharmacists Program functions as part of the Research and Education Foundation of the Virginia Pharmacists Association.
The objectives of the program are:
- Protect the Public by investigating any concern about the behavior of a pharmacist, pharmacy technician or student pharmacist if it relates to possible impairment due to drugs and/or alcohol use.
- Saving Lives by conducting interventions and assisting impaired pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and student pharmacists choose an appropriate treatment program.
- Provide monitoring of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and student pharmacists who may be impaired by chemical dependencies and have successfully completed an appropriate treatment program in conjunction with the Health Practitioners Monitoring Program.
- The program recognizes that mental illness and/or disability may be a contributing factor to impairment due to chemical dependency. Therefore, we encourage treatment for any contributing factor.
VAPAPP members will conduct annual seminars at the schools of pharmacy located in Virginia. The seminars will provide information on the signs and symptoms of addiction, investigation techniques, intervention techniques, treatment options and monitoring. Participants will be given contact information for VAPAPP and information regarding the Health Practitioners Monitoring Program.
Values
VaPAPP has built its Program on these essential values
- Respect
- Trust
- Confidentiality
- Compassion
- Empathy
- Public service
Courses & Resources
VaPAPP will:
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- Personally assist pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians, whose health and effectiveness have been significantly impaired by alcohol or drug addiction, and support their loved ones
- Need to talk to someone confidentially about getting help for yourself or a loved one? Messages left on the VaPAPP Help Line are strictly confidential and retrieved only by VaPAPP Committee members
- (804) 285-4145
- VaPAPP@virginiapharmacists.org
- Need to talk to someone confidentially about getting help for yourself or a loved one? Messages left on the VaPAPP Help Line are strictly confidential and retrieved only by VaPAPP Committee members
- Investigate any concern about the behavior of a pharmacist, pharmacy student, or pharmacy technician if it relates to possible impairment due to alcohol and/or drug use.
- Conduct interventions and assist impaired pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians in choosing an appropriate treatment program
- In conjunction with the Health Practitioners Monitoring Program, monitor recovering pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians who have successfully completed appropriate treatment
- Provide seminars for pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians on alcohol and drug abuse education and prevention, including information on the signs and symptoms of addiction to alcohol and/or drugs, investigation techniques, intervention techniques, treatment options and monitoring.
- Lectures, with CE, at Virginia Pharmacists Association and Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists meetings
- Lectures, with CE, at local pharmacists association meetings
- Lectures at each school of pharmacy in Virginia
- Lectures at technician training programs
- Provide information via exhibits at pharmacists meetings and conventions on alcohol and drug abuse education and prevention
- Collaborate with the Virginia Academy of Student Pharmacists on the Generation Rx initiative
- Provide networking opportunities and sharing of ideas about the most current information on intervention, treatment, and advocacy for alcohol and drug abuse prevention
- Support pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians to attend select professional meetings, such as the Virginia Pharmacists Association, American Pharmacists Association and APhA Institute on Substance Use Disorders.
- Personally assist pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians, whose health and effectiveness have been significantly impaired by alcohol or drug addiction, and support their loved ones
Administration & Management
VaPAPP functions as part of the Virginia Pharmacists Association Research and Education Foundation (VPhA Foundation), a 501(C)3 tax-exempt organization. VaPAPP’s office is housed in VPhA Foundation headquarters with sufficient space for a library of educational and training materials.
The VaPAPP Committee develops and oversees the Program’s initiatives and operations. The Committee consists of pharmacists in recovery who have successfully completed a treatment program; pharmacists who have had no need for treatment; and experts in intervention and treatment of addition to alcohol and/or drugs.
VaPAPP promotes its Courses and Resources to pharmacists, pharmacy students, and pharmacy technicians via all possible means, including the internet, newsletters, postcards, flyers, lectures, conferences, exhibits, etc.
Support for VaPAPP
Contributions by individuals, corporations, and the pharmacy profession provide operating support for VaPAPP’s Courses and Resources. The Program is part of the VPhA Foundation, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation.
Make a Gift
Gifts enable the many services and initiatives of VaPAPP and are tax-deductible. VaPAPP is eager to serve the people of Virginia by providing education, saving lives, and protecting the public.
Virginia Pharmacists Aiding Pharmacists Program (VaPAPP)
c/o the VPhA Research and Education Foundation
2530 Professional Road
Richmond, VA 23235
VaPAPP Help Line
(804) 285-4145 ext 303
VaPAPP@virginiapharmacists.org
Additional Resources
The Department of Health Professions has a contract with Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Addiction Psychiatry, to provide confidential services for the health practitioner, who may be impaired by any physical or mental disability, or who suffers from chemical dependency.
Available services include intake, referrals for assessment and/or treatment, monitoring, and alcohol and drug toxicology screens.
Practitioners who meet certain criteria may receive approval for a stay of disciplinary action. This allows the practitioner to focus on recovery efforts. Requests for stayed disciplinary action are reviewed by a designated board liaison, with the final decision being made by the individual’s licensing board.
The Health Practitioners’ Monitoring Program eligibility requirements are:
- practitioner must hold a current, active license, certification, or registration issued by a health regulatory board in Virginia or a multi state licensure privilege or,
- an applicant for initial licensure, certification, and registration or for reinstatement is eligible for participation for up to one year from the date of receipt of their application.
For further information or referral, call HPMP toll-free at 1-866-206-4747 or email: vahpmp@vcuhealth.org.