News

Iredell Health System has named Randi Raynor its new director of pharmacy, replacing former director Steve Critz with another supporter of medication education, expanded roles of pharmacists, and continuous improvements in treatment.

“In healthcare, we’re creating something new and having new ways to save people’s lives every day,” Raynor said. “So, you have to build programs and processes that support this cutting edge innovation that’s allowing us to save people.”

Raynor earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Howard University and a Doctor of Pharmacy from Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She practiced as a clinical pharmacist within Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center’s emergency department. She became a pharmacy supervisor at the Novant Health Charlotte Orthopedic Hospital before returning to the Presbyterian Medical Center as an operations manager.

Now with six years of leadership experience, Raynor has witnessed the evolution of pharmacy from being perceived strictly as distribution to now operating as medication expertise. In addition to efficiently delivering prescribed drugs to patients, Raynor’s approach to patient care goes beyond simply providing medication.

“We have more opportunities for counseling and education of patients and healthcare providers because we really are the ones who know the most about the medications and how they work in the body,” she said.

Raynor embraces the decentralization of Iredell Memorial Hospital’s pharmacy and plans to keep pharmacists out on the hospital’s floors and involved in Iredell’s healthcare team.

Raynor believes in ongoing regulation and is committed to actively keeping the pharmacy in strict compliance. The pharmacy is having new IV room space built, and Raynor is leading a project enhancing the safety of the rooms where IVs are mixed and prepared.

“I’ve yet to see a regulation within healthcare that’s come out that is doing it just to do it,” Raynor said. “It’s always centered on safety and making things safer for the patient or safer for healthcare workers.”

Raynor supports ongoing pharmaceutical research and believes that improvements in pharmaceutical treatment will continue to accelerate.

“The more we are learning about the human body on such a microscopic level, and the way drugs are more targeted now, there’s always going to be something new that can be developed to treat something that has never been able to be treated before,” Raynor said.

As pharmaceutical advances are made, Raynor expressed her enthusiasm to fulfill a leadership role in providing those options to patients.

“From a leadership perspective, there’s a business side of pharmacy and cost containment, but there’s also treatment and taking care of patients. So, I believe in knowing the avenues of patient assistance programs and keeping the patient at the center to provide what’s needed while sustaining our ability to provide for other patients that come to our facility,” Raynor said.

Achieving a successful transition, Raynor and Critz worked together for four weeks before Critz’s retirement on Sep. 13.

“This is a very well-run pharmacy,” Raynor said. “It has great foundational programs in operations and in clinical programs. It is stronger than you would expect to see in an independent community setting.”

Believing in the department’s groundwork, Raynor doesn’t plan to make drastic adjustments immediately but to be observant and recognize changes that will help the pharmacy progress in providing optimal patient care.

A native to North Carolina, Raynor is married and has a four-year-old son. She plans to complete New England College’s Master of Business Administration program in December.