STATE HOUSE — The Rhode Island Pharmacists Association honored Sens. Alana M. DiMario and Meghan E. Kallman and Rep. Julie A. Casimiro as its 2024 Charles Hachadorian award winners Thursday, June 20.
“I am truly grateful to receive this tremendous honor from an organization and its members who have done such tremendous work during the challenging last few years for our health care workers,” said Representative Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter). “Without our state’s pharmacists, our citizens would be far worse off and I look forward to continue working with them to ensure Rhode Islanders remain healthy and have access to the vital medications needed to preserve their health.”
Said Senator Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence), “I’m proud of the work we’ve done in the General Assembly to empower pharmacists to operate at the top of their licenses to improve public health and access to medication in Rhode Island. It is an honor to receive this award and I look forward to continuing this important work in future sessions.”
Said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham), “Pharmacists are crucial partners in the effort to expand access to health care, doing work that goes far beyond dispensing medications to ensure that patients receive the care and treatment they need. I’d like to thank RIPA for this award and to thank all their members for the hard work they do daily to improve the lives of Rhode Islanders.
The legislators were presented with the award at the RIPA’s 150th annual President’s Dinner. The award is given to non-pharmacists who recognize and actively support the efforts of the profession of pharmacy to health care. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick) also attended the event.
“RIPA, and the entire pharmacy community is very grateful for the support and advocacy from Representative Casimiro and Senators DiMario and Kallman. The improvements to our licensure process positively impact every pharmacy professional licensed here in Rhode Island. Senator Kallman’s multi-year effort to improve access to reproductive healthcare by authorizing pharmacists to prescribe hormonal contraception is a step forward in leveraging pharmacists to address critical needs our patients need. We appreciate Speaker Shekarchi for joining us tonight as leadership continues to support advancing pharmacy practice. Their tireless efforts demonstrated how true collaboration works. We have also seen the General Assembly support legislation for tobacco cessation prescribing, and earlier this month passed legislation by Sen. Murray and Rep. Kislak for pharmacists to prescribe HIV prevention medications, without a cost or prior authorization. President-elect Del Ricci and I continue to be impressed by the trust and advocacy placed in pharmacists as we play a pivotal role in advancing healthcare here in Rhode Island,” said RIPA President Chris Federico.
All three legislators are committed advocates for empowering pharmacists in Rhode Island’s health care system. Senator DiMario sponsored a law (2024-H 7566Aaa, 2024-S 2378A) that passed this year that allows for pharmacies to transfer electronic prescriptions at a patient’s request, Senator Kallman was the sponsor of a law (2023-S 0103Aaa) passed last year that allows pharmacists to prescribe and dispense hormonal birth control and Representative Casimiro sponsored a law along with Senator DiMario (2023-H 5191, 2023-S 0255) to reform pharmacist licensing fees that passed last year.
Representative Casimiro also introduced a bill (2024-H 7273) this year that would have allowed pharmacists to bill insurers for clinical services they provide separately from the dispensing of medication in an effort to help ease the shortage of primary care health care services in Rhode Island.
RIPA was established in 1874 and is one of oldest state pharmacist associations in the country. Its mission is to unite Rhode Island pharmacists in order to achieve the shared goals of elevating practice standards and increasing collaboration between health professionals to improve public health.