Week One: Tallahassee, Florida. Training at the pharmacy. Week Two: Holyoke, Massachusetts. Training at the pharmacy. Week Three: Houma, Louisiana. Training at the pharmacy. Week Four: Home. You’d think, at some point, that a life spent mostly on the road — living out of a suitcase, repeating the same processes week-in and week-out — might become something of a dull, dispiriting grind for this grandmother of two.
“Last week,” she reports enthusiastically, “I was chasing alligators all over Louisiana!” When asked if she wouldn’t mind explaining, Becky continues, “I was in St James Parish, and I’d gone to a restaurant with a canal behind it. After ordering dinner, I went out to look at the water — and it was filled with alligators. Big alligators. So I pulled out my phone, and filmed them all swimming towards me.” OhhhKayyy, so you didn’t consider taking evasive action? “Oh. Well, there was a six-foot wall above the water level. They couldn’t get me.” There you have it: Another chapter of Becky’s Excellent Adventure.
“Traveling is awesome!” she says. “Everywhere I go is an experience. In Holyoke, the best clam chowder in town is right down the road from our pharmacy. When I go to the Hunt Regional pharmacy in Texas, I love the authentic Mexican restaurants. Most of our pharmacies,” she notes, changing direction, “are within driving distance, and I love the quiet time, and the solitude.”
You hear the word love a lot from Becky. Particularly when it comes to the people she trains. “The thing I love most is seeing people start out at an entry level and emerge as leaders. I always try to instill that mindset in our people, that they can become leaders if they embrace the opportunities we give them. When openings come up, we always try to promote from within. As an organization, that’s the greatest success we can have — when good people move up.
“We look for people who have a heart for people. And that’s the way most of our people are. We can teach them a lot of things about the way we serve patients, but you can’t teach character.” Speaking of a recent extended assignment at ProxsysRx’s Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, she says, “It’s been such a good experience working with them. They’re so eager to learn, and I’ve learned more about teaching there than I have anywhere. The reason being,” she explains, “there are a number of employees who are categorized as ‘flex colleagues’ — mostly Florida State students who work weekends. We have to train them differently, because they aren’t assigned their own floors — they work all over the hospital.”
Culture shock. In the best possible sense.
“A lot of our people come to us from chain pharmacies, where they’ve had to work nights and weekends. Some, and I’m not kidding, worked under strict orders to speak to co-workers only about work-related matters — not one word of personal, human interaction. Some,” she continues, “had to constantly meet quotas. ProxsysRx is a business,” she notes, “but we don’t have quotas. If there’s one message I make sure everyone hears loud and clear, it’s this: Patients are always our first priority. That never fails to make a positive impression, but you’d be surprised what a change that is from the way a lot of our people have been trained in the past.”
Of course, there are challenges.
“Every now and then,” Becky admits, “we get people who don’t particularly like being told how to act and work. You have to deal with them differently. When you explain things, you have to make them feel like it’s their idea. And you can tell they think of their job as just that: A job, not a calling. Those are the people who generally come and go pretty quickly. Fortunately, most people come to us eager to work — which is why so many of the people who come to ProxsysRx stay with us. Whenever I hear someone say they’re looking for a place to grow, I’m thinking to myself, ‘You’ve found a home. You’re going to be fine here.’”
So many Shining Stars
“I think of Kiera Marion, a Pharmacy Tech at DeSoto in Southaven, MS. She’s so smart. I have training material that she actually helped create when she was an RCA, and I always give her credit when I use it. Kiera has such a heart for serving others, she was recently honored by the hospital’s Post-Anesthesia Care Unit’s nurse manager with their ‘PACU Pearl Award’ for being positive, engaged, active, reliable and loyal. Understand, this honor came from the hospital. That just doesn’t happen very often.
“I think of Derel Smith, our Pharmacist In Charge [PIC] in Houma. Before he joined ProxsysRx, he was the Director of Pharmacy Operations for a major regional retailer, managing oversight of nearly 600 pharmacies. With that background, how could you not think you know everything about running a pharmacy? And yet, he couldn’t have been more enthusiastic about his training. I love the people down in Louisiana,” she continues. “They have such a unique culture, it just fascinates me. I love the way they talk. And we have so many good people at St James.
“I think of the progress we’ve made at TMH,” she says. “A lot of that is due to [PIC] Mariana Elia. She goes above and beyond every day, and her attitude is contagious. I’ve seen her walk one end of the hospital to the other with our RCAs, when she could have easily supervised them from the pharmacy. I’ve seen her deliver Meds To Beds prescriptions to discharging patients. I’ve even seen people at that pharmacy personally deliver prescriptions to patients’ homes.”
How do you spell that again?
“I hear this all the time: ‘Our pharmacy is like family to me.’ You might even call it a Pharmily. I got that from Karen Rhodes [PIC at Anniston, Alabama’s RMC]. She put it on a card to her staff: ‘I love my pharmily!’ It’s because so many of our pharmacists are always in-tune with our patients and their employees. When an RCA or a tech needs time off, our PICs are going to help them out. I can’t think of a time when a pharmacist refused to approve much-needed PTO, and here’s one reason why: With most of our people, it genuinely matters to them when they have to come in late, or call-in sick.”
Credit where credit’s due
For all her success, Becky will tell you, “I couldn’t do it without [Pharmacy Operations Trainer] CJ King. Drew [Holleman, ProxsysRx Pharmacy Operations Director] had worked with him at Desoto. He knew CJ’s work ethic and his capabilities, and when the training position came open, he was a no-brainer choice. CJ is like a brother to me. We talk almost every day, and we love to talk about all the great things going on at ProxsysRx.
“It’s such an exciting time in this company. And here’s something I can say about [CEO/Founder] George Salem. He’s a good person. He always wants to do the right thing. If he asks me how things are going in the field, he really wants to know. And I don’t mind telling him when there are problems with people, because I know he wants to solve problems the best possible way for everyone involved.”
This is what you do in your spare time?
“I’m almost finished earning my Bachelor Of Science degree in business management,” she mentions almost off-handedly. “I started studying before my daughter was born, but I had to drop-out to raise her. Anyhow, she started working on her doctorate a couple years ago, and one day she asked me, ‘Mom, why don’t we study together?’ So I enrolled at Athens State University. It’s a great school. Now, I work during the day and study at night.
“When I get my degree,” she smiles, “I’m going to start swimming every night!” Fair warning to the alligators of Louisiana, in case that includes an occasional dip in the local canals.
Unlock your career potential in pharmacy with ProxsysRx
At ProxsysRx, we’re intent on preserving the reputation we’ve earned as an employer of choice. It’s why our company culture is centered around guiding principles we call “ProxsysRx Cares.”
We understand that our employees are people with lives and needs outside of work. From our generous paid-time off, to no late-night hours, it’s our goal to be a place where you’ll feel valued and supported. A place where you’ll genuinely enjoy working. It’s an approach that’s good for our people, and in turn, for the patients and health systems we serve.
Here’s hoping that, someday soon, we’ll unlock your potential together!
