The award, presented at URI Pharmacy’s Seminar by the Sea, honors ethics and excellence in health care
The University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy presented alumna and Care New England Director of Specialty Pharmacy Leslie Pires with the Dr. Norman A. Campbell Award for Ethics and Excellence in Healthcare, honoring her contributions to pharmacy and health care in general in the region.
Pires, an adjunct clinical associate professor at URI, is also a consultant for the 340B drug program for Soleo Health in McKinney, Texas, as well as the American and Rhode Island Pharmacists Associations. She received the award March 12 at Seminar by the Sea, a continuing professional development conference hosted by the URI Office of Continuing Education for the Health Professions.
Pires received her Bachelor’s in Pharmacy and Pharm D. from URI in 2000, and her Master’s in Pharmacology from Northeastern University. She has worked at Women and Infants’ Hospital for most of her career, starting as a staff pharmacist in 1983. She was the longtime director of pharmacy for the hospital before being promoted to pharmacy director for all of the Care New England hospitals in 2015. She is responsible for the pharmacy supply chain, informatics and ambulatory pharmacy for Care New England, and she is part of the pharmacy services committee for 340B.
Pires said she was surprised and honored to receive the award, particularly given it stands for.
“I am humbled to receive an award that honors ethics,” Pires said. “There is a great challenge to truth and integrity in our culture today. We think, ‘If no one’s looking, I won’t get caught.’ Well, the truth matters. It always matters, even when no one is watching.”
The Campbell Award was created to honor those like Pires working in health care who have displayed high ethics and integrity over the course of their career, according to Paul Larrat, dean of the URI College of Pharmacy. He praised Pires on her long career and her willingness to work with the next generation of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. Along with her long list of credentials from a career spanning more than 40 years, Pires has also volunteered to mentor 6th-year pharmacy students at URI, which exemplifies her commitment to the field.
“She’s a really good listener, a really good mentor, great with advice, and she puts the student under her wings and makes sure that they do well,” Larrat said. “This award is about excellence, yes, but it’s really about integrity, ethics and compassion. It is through these attributes that Leslie has really become a leader in health care.”
While he was unable to attend the conference, the award’s namesake, Norman Campbell sent his greetings to his former student at URI.
“Leslie is more than qualified to receive this award,” Campbell said. “I’m very proud to add to the list of my former students who have won the award.”
Seminar by the Sea, which took place March 11-13 at Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina, is among the premier events hosted by the URI Office of Continuing Education for the Health Professions. The conference — “Emerging Healthcare Trends: Treating the Whole Patient” — brings together pharmacists, nurses, students and clinicians from multiple health care disciplines for three days of seminars and discussions. Continuing education (CE) credits are available for pharmacists and nurses, including pharmacology, immunization and law credits.