It’s been profoundly humbling to have had the opportunity to work with all of you for four plus years as the inaugural President of the Health System Owned Specialty Pharmacy Alliance (HOSP). I recall vividly in the summer of 2020 our concept conversations, the overwhelming impact that Covid was having across health systems, the keen industry insights and support that Jack Shields was extending, and our final decision to incorporate in October and press on.

Our original strategic pillars were and still are built on the foundation that the integrated health system (integrated delivery network) specialty pharmacy model drives the best, most cost-effective patient care and outcomes results. Today, HOSP continues its laser focus on:

  • Strategic growth of members and partners
  • Generating relevant data and research to validate “the model”
  • Publicizing and sharing the benefits of said model
  • Driving the optimization of all elements of the model across our membership
  • Advocating for legislative and other changes within our industry to support and defend the model

In no specific order, our most noteworthy accomplishments-milestones include the following:

  • Expanded System and Partner growth over the four years, now approaching fifty (50)
  • Planned, developed, and implemented the Pharmacy Innovation Network (PIN) as a Rare Disease collaborative project with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; created a Rare Disease Implementation Toolkit
  • Executed our first HOSP Live Conference with eighty registrants at the Nashville Gaylord in October 2024; began planning for the 2025 Fall Conference
  • Created a unique shared membership arrangement with The Health Management Academy in early 2024
  • Participated in and led several Specialty Pharmacy Industry panels at HOSP-Las Vegas, Informa Connect-Boston, and The Health Management Academy-Phoenix
  • Started and grew a HOSP social media presence which is tracking above industry standards in several categories; coined and spread the terminology of “Gold Bagging” to continually depict and represent the extra patient care value that system-owned Specialty Pharmacies provide.

At the extremely high risk of leaving someone out (with apologies), I am especially grateful to:

The HOSP Board and the MVP/MOP Desi Kotis with her over .900 batting average for identifying and securing new members-partners; John, April, Jessie, and the Virtual team.

  • Tanya Menchi, Tim Affeldt and John Lessard for their service and support as members of our HOSP Executive Leadership Team
  • Jen Donovan and Agnes Cha, Mel Nelson, Melissa Goff, and Brian Davis as our resolute, thoughtful, and innovative Committee Chairs
  • Steven Cieplik, his colleagues at Alnylam and The Kinetix Group, and our participating systems for keeping the Rare Disease PIN project on track and achieving hard outcomes
  • Sri at Latent Health for his active and thoughtful participation with our group around the subject of Artificial Intelligence, especially in Nashville at our Event
  • Torry Thomas at Beigene for her continual sponsor support overall, and her multi-year event support in Las Vegas and Nashville

As President Emeritus, I remain “all in” to do what I can to help the organization. We aim to sustain and grow member and leader engagement, with a focus on generating high value activities together with our system members and partners. Outside the box ideas especially for projects and partnerships are welcome; sending the same to Tim or to me is encouraged, or to any Board member for that matter.

We’ve begun planning the HOSP Conference for the Fall 2025 and are looking at Washington, D.C. (October) at this time. We have also begun succession and leadership discussions through the Board, as well as By-Laws and Committee-Subcommittee brainstorming.

I sincerely thank you for the opportunity to lead this talented group on such an important and timely cause. I am beyond grateful for your support in getting us all to this point in our evolution. Most importantly, I treasure your friendships and professional relationships and hope to see you all face to face (again) at some point for a handshake and a hug.

Sincerely,

Gary