Sokos named to HOSP board of directors

Louis Sokos, BS Pharm, MBA, WVU Medicine Allied Health Solutions Specialty Pharmacy director, has been named a founding board member of the Health System Owned Specialty Pharmacy Alliance (HOSP). HOSP will focus on advocating for the interests of integrated specialty pharmacies and promoting best practices that enable them to deliver the best patient care and patient outcomes.

“It is an honor to be able to serve on the HOSP Board of Directors as a founding member,” Sokos said. “This organization will help health system owned specialty pharmacies develop a stronger voice in the industry and to deliver exceptional patient care and outcomes.”

Specialty pharmacies focus on delivering medications for more complex and chronic illnesses. More than one in four specialty pharmacies are now owned by health systems, a trend that is continuing to grow as hospitals look for ways to improve patient care. The integrated specialty pharmacy model helps keep a critical piece of patient care – medication management and treatment – inside the health system, instead of a more fragmented approach to care.

While the integrated specialty pharmacy model is evolving and growing fast, the industry lacks a singular voice. No other organization is solely devoted to representing the health system owned specialty pharmacy industry. As a community based on coordinated care and the reduction of barriers to patient care, the industry needs to reflect and promote those values with its own organization. HOSP provides a platform that allows healthcare systems to promote the benefits of the integrated model, share best practices for implementation, advocate for common interests, like 340B access to limited distribution drugs and payer networks, and patient choice.

In addition to Sokos, HOSP founding members with representation on the Board of Directors include:

• Tim Affeldt, Vice President, Specialty/Infusion Pharmacy Operations, Fairview Health Services
• Neil Gilchrist, Senior Director, Pharmacy Services, UMass Memorial Medical Center
• Gary Kerr, Chief Pharmacy Officer, Baystate Health
• Eric Arlia, Senior Director, Systems Pharmacy, Hartford HealthCare
• Darlene Rodowicz, Executive Vice President, Berkshire Health Systems
• Jack Shields, Founder and Chairman, Shields Health Solutions
• Marla Weigert, System Vice President, Pharmacy Services at CommonSpirit, President, CommonSpirit Specialty Pharmacy

For more information on WVU Medicine Allied Health Solutions Specialty Pharmacy, visit WVUMedicine.org/Allied/Specialty-Pharmacy.