The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) installed a new president, officers, and board of directors during its 2024 annual convention in Columbus, Ohio, in late October.

President Jeff Harrell, PharmD, of Ilwaco, Washington, has been an NCPA member since 2002. As CEO of Cascadia Pharmacy Group, an alliance of independent community pharmacies, Harrell co-owns more than 35 pharmacies in Washington state, Oregon and Idaho. He is also on the board of directors of American Associated Pharmacies and AlignRx, an independently owned pharmacy services administration organization.

In his first speech as NCPA president, Harrell told the organization’s house of delegates, “The landscape of pharmacy has changed. Cash flow in the last year was as tough as it has ever been. The casualties have been countless, and the closures and consolidation of pharmacies have been catastrophic in some areas, leaving many pharmacy deserts. However, the pharmacy economist in me is looking forward to our future, and I could not be more excited for our profession.”

Harrell added that his mission as NCPA president will include working to change the pharmacy payment model and ensure independent pharmacies are recognized for the work that they do. “Independent pharmacy is a premium product,” Harrell said. “We deserve to be paid like that premium product.”

The NCPA house of delegates “approved a resolution urging Congress, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and other regulatory authorities to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers [PBMs] from using contract terms and conditions mandating pharmacies to acknowledge that said terms and conditions are ‘reasonable and relevant’ as a condition of participation in the PBMs’ contracts or networks,” the announcement said.

NCPA delegates additionally confirmed the following community pharmacy owners for the board of directors positions listed:

President elect: Kristen Riddle, Conway, Arkansas
Chair: Christian Tadrus, Moberly, Missouri
Board of directors: Jonathan Marquess, Woodstock, Georgia
Board of directors: Steve Moore, Plattsburgh, New York
Board of directors: Dared Price, Winfield, Kansas
Board of directors: Justin Wilson, Midwest City, Oklahoma
Board of directors: Hashim Zaibak, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Board of directors, immediate past president: Lea Wolsoncroft, Birmingham, Alabama

Delegates also confirmed the following pharmacists as vice presidents and officers: Ben McNabb, Eastland, Texas; Ashley Moose, Monroe, North Carolina; Scott Pace, Little Rock, Arkansas; Ashley Seyfarth, Aztec, New Mexico; and Khanh-Long (Ken) Thai, San Marino, California.