During its annual convention in Kansas City, Mo., the National Community Pharmacists Association recently awarded eight pharmacists, pharmacy owners and educators for their efforts in the industry:
1. Ken Thai, PharmD, owner and operator of 986 Degrees Corp., won the Willard B. Simmons Independent Pharmacist of the Year award for "exemplary professional leadership, service to community and commitment to independent pharmacy.
2. Jim Martin, a owner of four independent pharmacies and a licensed pharmacist in Georgia and Texas, received the Calvin J. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award. "Our industry is stronger as a result of Jim's leadership throughout his career," NCPA President Michele Belcher said in a statement.
3. The NCPA awarded the collective of independent community pharmacists the Sharlea Leatherwood Memorial Trailblazer Award "for innovating and implementing outstanding care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic."
4. Megan Smith, PharmD, a pharmacist in Little Rock, Ark., and an assistant pharmacy professor at the University of Arkansas, was awarded the National Preceptor of the Year Award "for elevating community pharmacy practice through teaching and research."
5. Kendall Guthrie, PharmD, director of co-curriculum and clinical associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy, was named the Outstanding Faculty Liaison of the Year — the first time a UMKC faculty member has won the award.
6. Marc Ost, the co-owner of Eric's RX Shoppe in Horsham, Pa., was awarded the National Association of Retail Druggists Ownership Award for his "entrepreneurial spirit."
7. Tim Mitchell, the owner of Neosho, Mo.-based Mitchell's Drug Stores, won the Outstanding Adherence Practitioner Award for overhauling the company's medication adherence programs and synchronizing medication pickup days.
8. James Schiffer, a partner of Allegaert Berger & Vogel, received the John W. Dargavel Medal for representing pharmacy clients in legal matters for about two decades.