Inpatient Pharmacy

The inpatient Pharmacy Department provides service to three campuses of KDHCD.

The inpatient pharmacy department has a staff of 80+ with over 45+ clinical pharmacists (80% have completed at least a PGY1 residency, 40% are BCPS certified). and operates 24/7 inpatient pharmacy services. Medications are primarily dispensed using unit-based medication dispensing cabinets with the addition of a centralized IV additive and chemotherapy preparation services. A full array of technology is available to assist with distribution of medications to our patients. This includes automated inventory management (Talyst® Carousel), automated dispensing cabinets (Pyxis®), bar code medication administration (MAK), automated TPN compounder (Baxa®) and workflow management systems (DoseEdge®).

Pharmacy services utilize an integrated decentralized staffing model. Pharmacists practice on nursing units participating in order verification, provision of drug information and clinical pharmacy services. Clinical pharmacy services include patient care rounding on select floors, pharmacokinetics, anticoagulation management, automatic intravenous to oral switches, automatic renal dose adjustments and automatic therapeutic interchanges. Specialty pharmacy services include Infectious Disease, Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Oncology, Pediatrics, Anemia Management, Pain Management and Anticoagulation. Kaweah Delta Pharmacy Department’s Anemia Management service was the recipient of an ASHP Best Practice Award in 2010 and the Pain Management service was the recipient of an ASHP Best Practice Aware in 2014.

Teaching affiliations with Schools of Pharmacy include: University of California San Francisco, University of the Pacific, Touro University and Loma Linda University. The pharmacy department hosts 35 pharmacy student rotations per year on average. Pharmacists service as preceptors, participate in hospital committees, round with medical teams and are an essential part of the healthcare team.

The medication needs of inpatients are also supported by the pharmacy technician staff. Pharmacy technician staffs are divided into Level 1 and Level II technicians. The pharmacy tech staff supports replenishment of unit-based dispensing cabinets (Pyxis) where 98% if medication doses are dispensed. Additional medications, including IV preparations, not dispensed by Pyxis are prepared and dispensed from the inpatient pharmacy by technicians under the supervision of pharmacists.

At Kaweah Delta Health Care District, we are committed to providing high-quality, customer-oriented and financially strong healthcare services that meet the diverse needs of the patients we serve. The pharmacy staff’s goal is to provide personal, professional and compassionate experiences to every person, every time.