September 21, 2023 – Highlands ARH Regional Medical Center is pleased to announce Marc Messer has been named director of inpatient pharmacy.

Messer graduated from the University of Kentucky Pharmacy School in 2014. While he began in retail pharmacy, the majority of his career has been in clinical pharmacy in a hospital setting. This past year, Messer has served as the Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator for Highlands Regional Medical Center.

Since Messer always knew he wanted to work in healthcare, he combined his love of chemistry and his curiosity about why a medicine caused a specific reaction in a patient and chose the field of pharmacy.

He says, “I wanted to know why this medicine caused that reaction. Coming from areas where medicine is abused made me want to understand why people will alter their entire lives because of their addiction.”

Messer’s first month as director of inpatient pharmacy has been filled with projects. He is enjoying the operational side of this role while still being involved in the day-to-day functional side. Inpatient pharmacy is becoming a 24-hour pharmacy and figuring out the logistics of staffing and scheduling is currently one of his top priorities.

Chief Operating Officer Justin Turner says, “Marc has embraced his new role and has taken a comprehensive approach to the projects he’s working on. He sees the details and the big picture at the same time and that quality is always a plus in a leadership role. He is increasing his department’s hours and the number of staff, adding pharmacy services for a new unit and educating and monitoring his staff on new standards. He is enthusiastic and dedicated to making all these transitions smooth for his staff while maintaining first-rate patient care and we are excited to have him as director.”

Messer says keeping his staff up to date on new standards can be an ongoing part of his role as regulations and/or policies can change and this can lead to changes in the required competencies. One challenge in this role Messer says is, “Coordinating doing your best job with all healthcare providers. For example, you have to ensure that what you are doing is what the doctor wants and that it works with the nursing staff.”

“Maintaining new and existing competencies is part of patient care. Patient safety is always the first priority. My team is part of the patient’s provider team and when we perform at a level of excellence, this allows all staff to focus on their particular roles and skills so that the patient receives an even higher quality of care.”

Messer says he wants to help the hospital and the available services to continue to grow and that “One of my goals is to provide the best environment for employees so that they in turn can provide the best care and the best environment for our patients.”

Messer and his wife Dominique, live in Harold with their two children, Izack who is a senior in high school, and Lucy who is a first grader this year.

In his spare time, Messer enjoys outdoor activities, camping, and theme parks. In the past few years, he has started gardening and preserving the harvests.