Jeannette woman to lead international pharmacist group

A Jeannette pharmacist is taking her seat as the leader of an international pharmacy advocacy organization that works to care for senior patients.

Deborah Milito of Diamond Pharmacy Services was installed as president of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists on Oct. 26, after having spent a year as the president-elect of the organization.

The professional association gathers together consultant pharmacists, a type of pharmacist that specializes in working directly with senior care and nursing homes.

“Anybody that cares for a senior, whether in a nursing home environment or community or academia or hospital, we’re your landing spot,” Milito said.

“We’re the experts in taking care (of) and handling the medication management for any senior. We really pride ourselves on that.”

Milito has been a member of the ASCP for 18 years. Born in Greensburg, she attended Duquesne University, and still teaches a course there on senior care.

Her day job is as chief antimicrobial stewardship officer and vaccine and therapeutics coordinator, along with director of consultant and clinical services, at Diamond Pharmacy in Indiana County.

Senior care consultant pharmacists often look at the appropriateness of different medications for patients, and attend meetings to keep track of patient conditions, she said.

“We want to be at the table to make sure our residents are getting the best care possible,” she said.

Past work

During the past several years of the pandemic, Milito and her team worked to provide access to immunizations to people in nursing homes. Putting together a covid vaccination plan was “the hardest thing” she has ever done as a pharmacist, but also the most rewarding, she said.

“It became the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done, to be able to go into these nursing homes and give a covid immunization to an elderly person, and for them to say, ‘Thank you, honey, now my daughter can come visit,’ ” she said.

The work of setting up vaccinations was complex and had a lot of moving parts, she said. Milito and her team had to keep abreast of new information about the virus and vaccines, become certified immunizers to be able to give the vaccine, and coordinate delivery and scheduling.

“I had meetings every week with my ‘Strikeforce Immunizers’ to make sure they had the most up-to-date information,” she said. “That was just so vital.”

Lisa Morris, a past president of the ASCP who worked with Milito, said the organization worked closely with Operation Warp Speed to get the vaccine out to nursing homes.

“Nursing homes were kind of overlooked in that, and since we are sort of a small niche part of pharmacy, I think a lot of people didn’t realize we had a built-in method of getting deliveries to nursing homes,” said Morris, who also is executive director of clinical services at Consana in Texas.

“Even within the world of pharmacy, consultant pharmacy is sort of a niche. A lot of people don’t know about it. I feel like we are always climbing that hill to do some educating.”

Morris met Milito while she was on the board of directors for the ASCP, and says they share a passion for solving problems in the health care world through pharmacy.

She describes Milito as passionate and meticulous about her work.

“She is not somebody who is going to take an answer and say, ‘Well gosh, I guess that’s the end of the story,’ ” she said. “She’s going to investigate and find a way to serve patients better. She’s very thorough.”

Looking ahead

Milito has spent the last two years preparing for the president role in her free time.

“This past year, I have been learning as much as I can about the organization,” she said.

“Even though I’ve been a member for 18 years, it’s much different when you’re elevated to this level.”

As president of the ASCP, she hopes to revamp the official website for clarity, and expand the student ambassador program and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee.

“I want to connect with even more people,” Milito said, noting that meeting with people from different parts of the organization helps her more efficiently come up with and discuss ideas.

“It’s that connection that I find with somebody in California that’s doing something, and I’m talking to somebody in Michigan, and I’m like, ‘Wait, don’t reinvent the wheel, Laura in California is already doing this!’ ”

She hopes to make sure that ASCP members are aware of the different services that the organization offers.

“I believe a lot in the education of our members of the value of ASCP,” she said.

“I think a lot of people join an organization, but they don’t do anything after that, (because) they don’t know what is available to them.”