Baptist Health has teamed with Parata Systems, an automated pharmacy technology company, to build a central fill mail-order specialty pharmacy that will serve all of Baptist's nine hospitals.
The Central Pharmacy Services Center will be built on the Baptist Health La Grange (Ky.) campus. Construction will begin in early March.
This service will provide convenient access to medications for patients living in urban and rural settings in Kentucky and Indiana, the health system said in a Feb. 13 news release. By shipping medications directly to patients, the pharmacy can increase volume and provide access to more specialty medications through an expanded accreditation process.
The $40 million investment is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024. Once up and running, the initial system will be capable of filling up to 8,000 prescriptions per 10-hour production shift, with built in expansion points for higher volumes, according to Baptist. The system can be scaled to fill up to 14,000 prescriptions per 10-hour day with the addition of incremental dispensers and workstations.
Baptist includes more than 400 points of care, including 10 community pharmacies, a specialty pharmacy, outpatient facilities, physician practices and services, urgent care clinics, ASCs and physical therapy clinics.