The Coastal Bend Society of Health-System Pharmacists was re-founded in 2010 by Mark Thomas, MS, RPh, Joe High, PharmD, Alice Mendoza, RPh, and John Evans, PharmD, MBA, after a period of dormancy. Since then, the Society has passed through the leadership of Mark Thomas, MS, RPh, Howard McClelland, RPh, Jason Mazour, PharmD, John Evans, PharmD, and George Udeani, PharmD, DSc. It has grown from barely 14 members to over 40 practitioners, not including active students.
After its re-founding, the Society has expanded the opportunities for pharmacy and pharmacy-related education in the Coastal Bend region. The Society is host to the Texas A&M University chapter of the Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists, whose members attend CBSHP meetings and activities and contribute to newsletters and forums. CBSHP has also hosted pharmacy residents for their mandatory presentations since the initiation of Corpus Christi’s first pharmacy residency program in 2012.
CBSHP also co-hosts and organizes the Gulf Coast Pharmacy Symposium. It was founded in 2010 from a collaboration amongst Joe High, PharmD, Patrice Gorski, RPh, George Udeani, PharmD, and Guadalupe Reyes, MS, former Director of the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center—Coastal Bend Health Education Center. The Symposium provides educational opportunities to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and advanced practice nurse practitioners. The initial gatherings of the Society after its re-founding were supported by Mr. Reyes and the Coastal Bend Health Education Center (CBHEC). A growth from that collaboration, the Symposium is now under the continued joint direction of CBHEC and Dr. George Udeani, Director. Since then, the Gulf Coast Pharmacy Symposium has hosted distinguished international and domestic guests such as Henri Manasse Jr., PhD, ScD, former CEO of ASHP, and speakers from China and Australia.