Pharmacist-of-the-Year

2021 SBLBSHP Pharmacist of the Year

Muno Bholat, Pharm.D.

By Angela Lee, PharmD, BCPS, APh, Communications Chair

[Left] Dr. Muno Bholat was presented with his award at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, Torrance; [Right] Dr. Bholat with his management team, with whom he humbly shares the honor and gives credit for his achievements

The Kelly Hales Memorial Pharmacist of the Year Award was established in 2011 to recognize a SBLBSHP member who has made significant, influential, tangible, and sustained contributions to the practice and profession of pharmacy in California. The award is named after Kelly Hales, an executive pharmacy director of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, who tragically lost his life in a workplace shooting.

Our chapter was pleased to present this award to Dr. Muno Bholat, an accomplished pharmacy director with 40+ years of service to the California healthcare system. Since 2015, he has been the pharmacist-in-charge for Providence Health and Services in Southern California, transforming the pharmaceutical operations at Providence Little Company Medical Centers in Torrance and San Pedro as well as Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. In this capacity, he has

been responsible for managing up to 129 FTE and an annual average operating budget of $58 million. Under his leadership, he expanded the roles of technicians and pharmacists. Clinical Pharmacist Specialists are embedded in clinical teams across specialties including Neo/Peds, Emergency Medicine, Behavioral Health and Critical Care. He has established collaborative care clinics for Advanced Practice Pharmacists to manage outpatients on high-risk drug therapy.

He started his career as a staff pharmacist working at Little Company of Mary; Torrance Memorial; Harbor/UCLA Medical Center; and Pacific Hospital in Long Beach. In 1993, he founded a startup, Premier Infusion Care, which continues to provide home healthcare for patients in Southern California. Also in 1993, Little Company of Mary Hospital promoted him to the Pharmacist-inCharge. He subsequently delivered several new business models and programs, including incorporation of the South Bay Medical Group and an employee benefit program that provided a model for a benefit plan rolled out to all Little Company employees in Southern California. In 2001, he became the Pharmacy Director, then led the way in developing an innovative patient-centered pharmacy model which placed safety at its heart. This included creating cross-disciplinary pharmacotherapy clinics, embedding electronic medical records as Executive Chair of the Providence of Southern California Pharmacy Excellence Council, and developing a transition of care program, ensuring the safe transition of patient medications from admission to discharge.

Dr. Bholat was formally recognized at the 2022 virtual installation, at which time he gave a sincere speech reflecting on his career and expressing gratitude for his pharmacy team. Again, please join us in congratulation Dr. Bholat - 2021 SBLBSHP Pharmacist of the Year!

Previous Award Recipients

2011 Judy Shigemitsu 2012 Diana Hendel 2013 Peter Ambrose 2014 Lisa Gunther 2015 Steven Thompson 2016 Kenn Horowitz 2018 Cindy Odegard 2019 Shelly Fisher

* No recipients in 2017 & 2020