Director of Pharmacy – Westchester Behavioral Health- New York Presbyterian Facility Overview The facility is a 72-bed acute inpatient behavioral health hospital providing psychiatric stabilization and treatment for individuals experiencing severe and complex mental health conditions. The patient population includes individuals experiencing active psychosis, suicidal ideation and self-harm, severe clinical impairment, and co-occurring chemical dependency/substance-use disorders.
Position Summary:
The Director of Pharmacy will provide clinical, operational, and administrative leadership for all pharmacy services supporting the hospital's inpatient behavioral health programs. This individual will have responsibility for ensuring the safe, effective, compliant, and evidence-based use of medications throughout the organization. Working closely with psychiatrists, physicians, nursing leadership, hospital administration, and other members of the interdisciplinary treatment team, the Director will play an important role in medication management, patient safety, regulatory compliance, formulary management, and pharmacy operations. The ideal candidate will combine strong hospital pharmacy operations experience with an understanding of psychiatric pharmacotherapy and the medication-management needs of an acute behavioral health population.
Key Responsibilities:
Provide overall leadership and oversight of pharmacy operations for the 72-bed inpatient behavioral health facility.
Ensure safe and effective medication management for patients with acute and complex psychiatric conditions.
Collaborate closely with psychiatrists, physicians, nursing, behavioral health clinicians, and hospital leadership regarding medication therapy and patient safety.
Provide pharmacy leadership related to antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, long-acting injectable medications, and medications used in the treatment of substance-use disorders.
Oversee medication procurement, storage, preparation, dispensing, administration processes, inventory management, and drug distribution.
Maintain appropriate controls and oversight for controlled substances and other high-risk medications.
Direct pharmacy policies and procedures related to medication safety, adverse drug events, medication errors, medication reconciliation, formulary management, and medication-use evaluation.
Provide leadership to the hospital's Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee and other medication-management and patient-safety initiatives.
Monitor medication utilization and identify opportunities to improve clinical outcomes, medication safety, and cost effectiveness.
Ensure pharmacy compliance with applicable New York State and federal regulations, DEA requirements, CMS Conditions of Participation, and applicable accreditation standards.
Maintain continuous regulatory and accreditation survey readiness.
Recruit, supervise, develop, schedule, and evaluate pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
Establish appropriate staffing and workflow standards to meet the needs of the hospital.
Manage the pharmacy budget, pharmaceutical expenditures, inventory, vendors, purchasing, drug shortages, and cost-containment initiatives.
Provide education and drug-information support to pharmacy staff, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
Participate in hospital quality, patient-safety, clinical, and administrative committees.
Develop and monitor pharmacy performance metrics and quality-improvement initiatives.
Required Qualifications:
BS in Pharmacy or Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from an accredited school of pharmacy.
Active New York State Pharmacist license and registration in good standing.
Hospital or health-system pharmacy experience.
Demonstrated pharmacy leadership, supervisory, or management experience.
Strong understanding of medication safety, controlled substances, regulatory compliance, and hospital pharmacy operations.
Strong communication skills and demonstrated ability to work effectively with physicians, nursing leadership, administration, and interdisciplinary clinical teams.
Highly Preferred:
PharmD.Previous experience in an inpatient psychiatric, behavioral health, or acute-care environment with a significant behavioral-health population.
Clinical experience with psychiatric pharmacotherapy and complex psychotropic medication regimens.
Experience with patients with co-occurring psychiatric and substance-use disorders.
PGY1 residency training.
PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy residency and/or Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) certification.
Previous Director, Assistant Director, Pharmacy Manager, or comparable hospital pharmacy leadership experience.
