OHI Hires First Full-time Pharmacist
Vijay Vohra, Allentown, has joined the staff of Ocean Health Initiatives (OHI), a federally qualified health care center, as its first full-time pharmacist. He will be responsible for pharmaceutical care, medication access, patient counseling, drug information services, and patient and staff education, among other duties. An integral part of Vohra’s duties will include the pharmacy and the chronic care collaboratives and the 304B prescription drug program, available at each OHI location.
OHI’s Patient Safety Pharmacy Collaborative was begun October 2009 under the umbrella of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a federal agency dedicated to improving access to health care services for those who are at-risk or uninsured. With the addition of a full-time pharmacist, OHI will be able to provide access to medication onsite, and increase patient safety and prescription adherence. With follow-up consultations from OHI’s staff and pharmacist, the likelihood for potential adverse drug effects will decrease.
Vohra will also work with local contracted pharmacies as a part of 340B, a prescription program governed by HRSA that provides specific medications to uninsured OHI patients at a lower cost in order to improve and expand their care.
Before joining the staff of OHI, Vohra was the pharmacy manager at Target Pharmacy, Howell, for five years where he maintained strict control over the distribution and usage of narcotics and barbiturates, ensured proper record keeping for prescriptions, and supervised staff, among other responsibilities.
Vohra received his B.S. in pharmacy from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. He later became a clinical research assistant at Robert Wood Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Raritan, where he worked as a site manager in the Department of Global Clinical Research & Development.
Vohra will be available at OHI’s Lakewood facility, 101 Second Street.
For further information, contact Jennifer Corey, marketing coordinator, at 732-719-9026.
About Ocean Health Initiatives
OHI, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), with locations at 101 Second Street, Lakewood; and 301 Lakehurst Road, Toms River; and 333 Haywood Road Manahawkin, provides comprehensive preventative and primary care, including pediatrics, maternal and child health, prenatal, WIC, universal immunizations, and dental health to the area’s uninsured, underinsured, and undocumented residents on a sliding-fee scale, based on an individual’s or family’s ability to pay.
OHI has a bilingual staff available to assist patients and callers. To become a patient of OHI, call a representative in the Call Center at either 732-552-0377, Toms River, or 732-363-6655, Lakewood. Visit www.ohinj.org. for further information.