Pharmacist Haley Stark Puts Patients First

Pharmacist Haley Stark has always been a people person – and with a background in retail pharmacy, her focus on patients has brought a new dimension to the team’s work supporting both acute-care inpatient treatment and those who enter the hospital’s Swing Bed program for inpatient rehabilitation.

Haley joined Alice Hyde’s Pharmacy Department in 2019, shortly after earning her credentials as a pharmacist and about a year after spending six weeks on rotation at Alice Hyde as a pharmacy student. The Malone native said many people aren’t aware of just how broad the team’s scope of practice is: from the group’s state-of-the-art space on the hospital’s second floor, the three-pharmacist team does everything from mixing highly-specialized cancer treatments to dispensing over-the-counter medications.

“You get to see a little bit of everything,” she said, “which is perfect. I feel like I’d get bored if I had to do the same thing all the time.”

One job Haley does get all of the time is providing medication counseling to individuals on Alice Hyde’s Medical-Surgical unit. Patients or families can request counseling from a pharmacist if they want more insight into a medication they’ve been prescribed. But more often than not, Haley takes it upon herself to proactively visit patients while they are in our care – a skill that Mike Dufort, Director of Pharmacy at Alice Hyde, says isn’t easy to come by. For Haley, it’s one of the highlights of her day.

“I like talking with patients – it’s nice to make them feel a little better,” said Haley. “People are often very scared of medications, so it’s nice to give them tips and tricks, as well as answer their questions about side effects and other important things to know about their prescriptions.”

The medication counseling program has received positive reviews from hospitalists and Med-Surg care team members, who say Haley’s focus on patients and ability to address questions and concerns promptly creates a better experience for patients and their loved ones.

“If medications aren’t explainable, that’s – unfairly – a ding on nursing,” said Mike. “Haley’s doing an amazing job making sure our patients understand what they’re taking and why. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”