2 Charlotte-area professionals honored for leadership

Two Charlotte-area health care professionals received national honors recently.

Joe Moose, co-owner of Moose Pharmacy based in Mount Pleasant, N.C., was recently named the 2015 Independent Pharmacist of the Year by the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Moose is a fourth generation pharmacist. His family began in the pharmacy business in 1882, when his great-grandfather, A.W. Moose, started working with his brother, Paul, a medical doctor. A.W. Moose’s son, Hoy, joined the business in 1927 after completing pharmacy school at UNC Chapel Hill. Hoy Moose eventually became president of the N.C. Pharmaceutical Association and was a state pharmacist of the year in 1960. His son, Whit, joined the pharmacy in 1960 and was named pharmacist of the year in North Carolina in 1990. Whit Moose’s two sons, Joe Moose and Whit Moose Jr., both became pharmacists and are co-owners of the business today.

Joe Moose, who graduated from Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Science in 1990, “is at the forefront of efforts to make independent community pharmacies an integral part of a more coordinated and efficient health care delivery system,” said NCPA President John Sherrer of Marietta, Ga.

In a separate announcement, Jim Olsen, head of materials management for Carolinas HealthCare System, is one of seven people named 2015 Honorees by the Bellwether League, a nonprofit group that honors pioneering professionals in the field of health care supply chain management.

“Every dollar saved through the supply chain goes right to the bottom line and the bank account,” said Jamie Kowalski, co-founder and chairman of the Bellwether League, based in Schaumberg, Ill. “This provides the operating cash that supports expansion of services and future innovations in care… Not bad for a profession that typically is under the radar.”

Olsen has worked for Carolinas HealthCare since 1997. As part of his job, Olsen identifies medical equipment that is outdated or no longer needed by Carolinas HealthCare and offers it to the hospital’s International Outreach Program, which donates equipment and services to countries in Central America and elsewhere.

This story was originally published October 21, 2015 at 10:39 AM with the headline "2 Charlotte-area professionals honored for leadership."