March 14, 2024
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is welcoming Ross Thompson, M.S., R.Ph., as the Associate Dean for Health System Pharmacy Practice with an adjunct associate professor appointment within the Office of the Dean. This role will be in tandem with his current role at UNC Health as system vice president and chief pharmacy officer.
“I look forward to having Ross join our leadership team. He has a deep understanding of pharmacy practice and will continue to strengthen our already close relationship with UNC Health through our Partnership in Patient Care,” said Angela Kashuba, Pharm.D., Dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
“Coming into this role at UNC Health, I was excited to engage with the pharmacy residency program and the Health System Pharmacy Leadership master’s program. Being able to contribute to that program was certainly part of my motivation for wanting this role,” said Thompson.
Originally from Kansas, Thompson went to the University of Kansas (KU) for pharmacy school and to complete his masters in hospital pharmacy. He also completed residency training at the KU Medical Center. He worked at the University of Texas Medical Branch from 1996 to 2000, then came to UNC Hospitals as an assistant director from 2000 to 2002 before relocating to Boston.
While in Boston, he worked for McKesson Corporation’s Medication Management Division. Through this position he assessed and advised over fifty different pharmacy departments in hospitals and health systems across the country
“I gained a lot of perspective on pharmacy practice, but one of the uniquely beneficial things was that I interacted with different hospital administrative teams and really started to get a sense of what they did and didn’t understand about pharmacy practice and how to communicate to a non-pharmacist about what a pharmacy program required,” he said.
It was time for another transition, and Thompson became the director of pharmacy at Tufts Medical Center in 2008. He grew the department over 12 years, eventually becoming the vice president and chief pharmacy officer. In 2021, Thompson was asked to also support laboratory medicine, radiology and ambulatory operations in addition to pharmacy.
After his 22 years in Boston, the call to North Carolina returned, and Thompson came back to UNC Health six months ago for his current role as system vice president and chief pharmacy officer.
Part of Thompson’s role with the School will be to serve as the primary liaison between the School, UNC Health and UNC Campus Health Services. He will also help ensure the education, training and clinical practice learners across UNC Health is aligned with the mission of the hospital and the School.
“There’s fantastic synergy between the School and the health system as we think about how we prepare the next generation of pharmacists and engage them in a meaningful way,” he said.
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