Western New England College School of Pharmacy and Big Y Foods, Inc. Team Up to Create Consultation and Wellness Center

Springfield, MA (PRWEB) September 14, 2010 Big Y Foods, Inc. and Western New England College School of Pharmacy have partnered to create a faculty pharmacist run patient-centered Consultation and Wellness Center, located at the Big Y World Class Market, 300 Cooley Street in Springfield.

The facility is one of the largest pharmacy consultation and wellness centers in the region and the first to be located in a supermarket. Patients will be able to make an appointment with a pharmacist who will work with the individual and their physician to optimize their care. A grand opening ceremony for the new Consultation and Wellness Center took place on September 10.

"There are changes taking place within the practice of pharmacy that make opportunities such as this more beneficial than ever to patient care," said Evan Robinson, R.Ph., Ph.D., Dean of the Western New England College School of Pharmacy. "To accomplish something like this it was imperative to find a collaborator who shared our belief in the pharmacist-as-educator model, and to that end we are thrilled to be working with Big Y."

According to Charles L. D'Amour, president and COO, "Big Y is proud to partner with Western New England College School of Pharmacy as part of our wellness initiative. Programs like this will help to improve the quality of life and health of Big Y customers."

Free services offered at the new Consultation and Wellness Center include education and training programs, blood glucose evaluations, individualized patient care plans, and medication review. The creators of the Center say the services are needed now more than ever given the aging population and the increasing strain on the state's health care system.

"I am very excited to serve the community and improve the lives of our patients. My vision for the Consultation and Wellness Center is to provide a bridge between the patient and their health care provider," said Kam Capoccia, Pharm.D., BCPS, Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Pharmacy. "The goals of the Center are to provide clinical pharmacy services to the community, enhance patient care, and optimize therapeutic outcomes. We strive to be recognized as a leader by the community and patients as a Wellness Center of Excellence."

Capoccia, who will supervise the Consultation and Wellness Center, says collaborative practice models in other states have already demonstrated the ability to improve the health of their patients and save the health care system millions of dollars. Among the Western New England - Big Y partnership's goals are to decrease visits to the emergency room and the number of hospital readmissions by collaborating with physicians on patient care.