NYC Health + Hospitals Employee Receives Prestigious Award for Public Service
Health system recipient among only six to receive Sloan Public Service Award
Jun 09, 2016
Martha Sullivan, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur today announced Althea Buckner, Director of Pharmacy at Gouverneur, as the recipient of the prestigious Sloan Public Service Award. Ms. Buckner is among six recipients chosen from more than 250,000 City workers for their extraordinary work and commitment to the public.
“Althea Buckner exemplifies the exceptional staff at Gouverneur that provides outstanding quality care to our patients everyday,” said Martha A. Sullivan. “She is an outstanding leader, and a true resource to the community we serve. Her steadfast focus upon service and patient safety has had a tremendous impact upon the health of countless New Yorkers during her career.”
Ms. Buckner manages a pharmacy staff of nine pharmacists and six pharmacy technicians who are responsible for filling up to 200,000 prescriptions annually for Gouverneur’s ambulatory care pavilion and nursing facility. Under her leadership, Gouverneur now provides even more Prescription Assistance Programs (PAP) for anti-diabetic medicines, asthma inhalers and other crucial medicines that patients need on a daily basis. She has established several innovative practices to improve patient safety and efficiencies such as pharmacist/provider rounds and new technologies including a robotic sorter and the use of computerized physician order entry for medications.
She has worked for NYC Health + Hospitals for more than 36 years and has dedicated her career to helping patients live their healthiest life. She started her career in the health system as a volunteer Pharmacy Intern at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem and soon earned her Bachelors of Science in Pharmacy, then transferring to NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan as a staff pharmacist. Two years later Ms. Buckner was promoted to the role of Drug Information Specialist at Metropolitan, where she began to develop her specialty of creating and managing value-adding communications about medications and their applications.
“I feel that I’ve had meaningful input into improving relations between the pharmacy and doctors at Gouverneur, which has helped the team identify better outcomes in patient safety and efficiency for our patients,” said Ms. Buckner. “Winning the Sloan award has been an achievement for pharmacists working in the public sector and especially within NYC Health + Hospitals. I’m honored to represent pharmacists working across our health system.”
The Fund for the City of New York Sloan Public Service Award is considered the Nobel Prize of city government and is the leading independent honor for City employees given each year who have long years of service working for New Yorkers. The Fund has recognized City employees at all ranks and levels of government.
NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur is located on the Lower East Side, and includes the largest free standing Diagnostic and Treatment Center in New York State.
Contact: Press Office, 212-788-3339
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation with a network of 11 hospitals including six regional trauma centers, community-based health centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, and a correctional health services unit. The system includes a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlusHealth. The health system provides essential services to 1.2 million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the five boroughs. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees are uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. Visit nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected: https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem/ or Twitter @NYCHealthSystem.
About NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur
NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur provides primary and specialty outpatient care through its Diagnostic and Treatment Center (D&TC) and residential care for the elderly and infirmed in its Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur offers enhanced, cutting edge healthcare services in a transformed space. It is the largest freestanding D&TC in New York, providing more than 250,000 visits per year on the Lower East Side. NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur provides a comprehensive array of on-site services, including pediatrics, women’s health, dentistry, primary care, behavioral health, podiatry, optometry, ENT, digital imaging, infections disease, and other specialties and sub-specialties. NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur’s Skilled Nursing Facility provides 24-hour care for individuals in need of short-term or long-term care. Residents receive medical, nursing and rehabilitative care in an atmosphere of dignity and compassion. Therapy services include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and audiology, and vocational rehabilitation. For more information contact 212-238-7897.