John Lepto, director of pharmacy, is retiring after practically 40 years at Akron Youngsters’s, and he’s leaving with a prescription for extra household time and journey, with no uncomfortable side effects and as many refills as he would love.
“This has been such a particular place to work,” John mentioned. “All people works to assist sick children get higher, and that’s what’s stored me right here. Youngsters’s hospitals are gentle and brilliant. I’ve been in grownup well being care; I preferred this a lot better.”
John’s favourite reminiscence in his profession occurred shortly after he began working right here in 1987. A affected person having febrile seizures wanted a particular medicine that wasn’t in inventory. John and his staff went above and past, working further hours to supply the drug.
“I nonetheless bear in mind the look on the mom’s face,” John shared. “She was so pleased and grateful we obtained the medicine so rapidly, so she might carry her child residence.”
From that second, John knew he was in the correct place. “There’s simply one thing particular about kids’s hospitals. It’s straightforward to get your palms across the mission of taking good care of children and treating them like we’d deal with our personal kids.”
John Lepto with the brand new Omnicell Carousel, a high-density medicine storage gadget that enables for storage of medicines in a small area.
Sourcing “orphan” or uncommon and costly new medication continued to catch the attention of John all through his profession. In 2023, he led a staff that introduced a brand new FDA-approved gene remedy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to an Akron Youngsters’s affected person.
However that doesn’t imply the work is with out its challenges.
“Pharmacy serves so many various components of the group,” John mentioned. “Making an attempt to stability and prioritize will be onerous, however we deal with the kids, and have endurance and politeness. Everybody works onerous for the youngsters.”
On June 7, John’s work as director of pharmacy will come to an finish. He’s trying ahead to touring to all 50 states (15 down, 35 to go) and as a substitute of monitoring down medicines, he’ll be on a special sort of treasure hunt visiting flea markets and property gross sales.
What introduced you to Youngsters’s? Who gave you your begin?
I started my profession in pharmacy whereas in 1976. A buddy of my father gave me a job in a drug retailer whereas I used to be a junior in highschool and I made a decision to go to pharmacy faculty after my expertise working there. I graduated from West Virginia College College of Pharmacy in 1982 and started working at a neighborhood hospital in South Charleston, WV.
After 5 years there, I utilized to and was accepted for a place at Akron Youngsters’s and have been right here ever since.
Have you ever at all times labored in the identical division and function?
I began at Akron Youngsters’s in April 1987 as a workers pharmacist, was promoted to supervisor in 1988 after which supervisor in 1990. When my boss left in 1997, I grew to become the director of pharmacy and have served in that function till now.
What have your greatest contributions been whereas right here?
I’ve been lucky to work with a terrific staff of pharmacists and technicians. Collectively we grew the pharmacy division to serve the wants of our sufferers from a single pharmacy in 1987 with 25 full-time workers to 105 full-time workers in 4 pharmacies on two campuses serving 6 regional well being facilities and 50 + major and secondary areas all through Ohio.
One in every of our greatest achievements has been the creation and operation of our specialty pharmacy program. Specialty pharmacy workers serve over 800 sufferers per yr, receive prior authorization for 10,000 prescriptions annually and may present these medicines inside 3 days of receiving the prescription. Most outdoors specialty pharmacies take as much as 3 weeks to do the identical work. The staff could be very pleased with having the ability to get these wanted medicines to kids in such a short while.
Apart from new buildings and building, is there something about the way in which that Akron Youngsters’s has modified that you just discover because you began right here?
Sure, Once I began in 1987, we have been a young children’s hospital and operated solely in Akron. We have now grown to a serious kids’s hospital serving many sufferers in northeast Ohio. Our progress in service is a testomony to our mission and the various positive workers who work for Akron Youngsters’s.
John poses with a Redfish on his annual October journey to Hackberry, Louisiana with pharmacy colleagues and mentors.
What do you stay up for essentially the most in retirement?
Being with household and buddies. My sons dwell in Grand Junction, Colorado and Atlanta, Georgia and I’m trying ahead to visiting them. I need to go to all 50 states and have journeys to Europe and the Galapagos Islands deliberate. I additionally need to play plenty of golf and like to go fishing. Lastly, I plan on volunteering at Youngsters’s within the Meals Farmacy and within the NICU as a child cuddler.
