We Hit the Ground Running in 2023!

Carol Moytcka PharmD, BCACP

2023 has really started off with a bang! First and foremost, our members, staff, lobbyist, PR Firm, officers, and The FPA Pharmacy Independent Academy have been working extremely hard to work on advancing our profession while also protecting it through the legislative process. We have attended Board of Pharmacy meetings advocating on behalf of pharmacists throughout this great state of Florida.

In Tallahassee, efforts have been extensive including meeting with legislators, attending committee meetings, and testifying to both the House and Senate to advocate for pharmacy. Students from our great colleges of pharmacy around the state provided a health fair for legislators which was extremely well received and showcased the impact pharmacists have on the health of our community. Students also have been visiting Tallahassee throughout this committee season in their white coats in order to have a constant presence at the Capitol, helping keep our pharmacy legislative priorities at the front of legislators’ minds.

These efforts have really paid off as we see a bill regarding PrEP and PEP being considered and our long-fought efforts towards PBM reform becoming a reality! These are exciting times for Florida pharmacists and the effort by the Florida Pharmacy Association has been tremendous! I would like to thank everyone individually who has worked on these efforts, but the list is incredibly long which goes to show the heart and dedication of our organization in advancing the profession forward. to bring new life to the Florida Pharmacy Association. We have a newly designed website with greater functionality and ease of use. On top of this, we have a new content management system which allows the user to register for meetings, attend the meetings, and receive their CE credits all in one space!

Our committees have been hard at work supporting the organization through educational affairs, governmental affairs, professional affairs, and public affairs, student affairs, and organizational affairs efforts. I want to thank all of our chairs and council members for their hard work.

The Academy for The FPA Pharmacy Independent Academy have been a force this year in helping move our legislative efforts and advocate for independent pharmacists around the state. And finally, your elected officers have also been putting in many volunteer hours in order to move our organization forward and work on behalf of our members.

I am so proud and humble to be a part of this incredible team.

Don’t forget to follow our new podcast, Florida Rxperts, where you can hear from a wide range of guests discussing pharmacy issues that matter to our members. In regards to our educational efforts, it has already been a very exciting start to the year with our first conference being one of the best attended virtual conferences we have ever had! This February Clinical Conference was filled with a wide range of expertise starting with our keynote speaker Dr. Christopher Jones, Acting Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC. His presentation discussing the development of the new CDC guidelines provided attendees with tools they can use in any practice setting as we provide care for our patients suffering with pain. Additional presentations focused on cannabis and neurological disorders, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular risk reduction, and opioid tapering. This conference was an excellent to way start off the year!

I am thankful for all of you, our members, who have been on this journey with us and continue to support our FPA organization. We are excited about what our future holds as we continue to Lace Up and WON’T Stop!

We have several incredible conferences coming up including the Thrive Conference in April focusing on mental health and wellness, our May conference focusing on substance use disorders, and don’t forget our very popular SE Gatherin’ in August! Of course, we also can’t forget the Annual Convention in July at Marco Island where we have redesigned the program to allow for more time to mingle and confer with colleagues in this beautiful island setting. Be on the lookout for registration for all of these upcoming meetings and I look forward to seeing everyone!

The FPA staff, under the direction of our innovative CEO Helen Sairany, has been hard at work transforming our organization. Aside from the many visits to pharmacies and colleges of pharmacy around the state, staff has been toiling away behind the scenes