Laurie Bodak, Pharm.D., joined NEOMED as clinical pharmacist at NEOvations Pharmacy Services in June 2022. A graduate of the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy, Dr. Bodak has experience in both hospital and retail pharmacy. Most recently, she was a pharmacy manager at CVS Pharmacy. In 2021, she received the CVS Health Paragon Award, which celebrates the best of the best among CVS Health colleagues who serve in customer-, patient- and member-facing roles.
She and her husband, Jared, a police officer for the City of North Royalton, live in Medina with their two children – daughter, Maycie, 12, and son, Tyler, 9.
What led you to become a pharmacist?
I have always been drawn to the medical field. I was introduced to pharmacy by a family friend when I was in high school and was able to shadow him and work as a pharmacy technician with him over summer break. I just kind of went from there.
I thought it would be a great career for a woman, a mom, especially. I do have a family, and the hours are not as demanding as a physician would be. I could work part-time. It was more flexible.
What brought you to NEOMED?
I have been a pharmacist for over 15 years and in those years have worked in hospital, retail, and management settings. I wanted to continue to grow my career and I felt like there was no better time than the present to take that leap and make that change. I am very excited for this new opportunity at NEOvations Pharmacy Services. I took this position to really be able to use my clinical knowledge and be more involved with patient care. As an added bonus, I get the chance to work closely with NEOMED pharmacy students and play a role in their growth and development as well.
What is your role at NEOMED?
I am a clinical medication therapy management (MTM) pharmacist. I make outreach calls to patients to complete their annual medication reviews. I let the patient lead the conversation, while I provide guidance and direction. Patients often leave their physician offices or are discharged from a hospital with prescriptions to fill “because the doctor said so.” There are so many patients who do not know anything about their medications and because of that, they don’t feel like it is important to take them. They are confused. We go over each medication together. We discuss the reason for taking it, how it works, why it’s important to take as prescribed, and the side effects to watch for. I feel that as an MTM pharmacist, I am able to bridge this gap and to provide some basic knowledge to patients.
We also provide medication therapy management for NEOMED employees, so everybody can enroll in that. It's a free service that will benefit any employee, their spouse, and their dependents. They can either come in-person or we can do a virtual appointment where we go over medications with them, make suggestions, and if they're in need of something, work with their doctors and/or pharmacy. We can provide education on diabetes home monitoring/testing, proper inhaler technique and blood pressure monitoring. If patients monitor these things from home, we can see how the medication is working for them.
(NEOMED employees can sign up for an appointment here)
We are also excited about holding upcoming flu clinics and other immunization clinics. We are working with employers, schools, churches, long-term care facilities and many more entities in Northeast Ohio to provide on-site flu immunization clinics.
What do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy watching my kids’ sporting events. My son plays baseball (pitcher) and football and my daughter cheers and does gymnastics. I like to run, so I do that on my own.
And then vacation, of course.
What’s your favorite vacation spot?
Maui. The last time we took the kids, that was our fourth time, first time with the children. That was fun. It was exciting to see it through their eyes, you know? I can still see the look on my daughters face when we walked into the water and a giant sea turtle swam right past her. They both loved it. They were like, “when are we going back?”
We're hoping to go somewhere this Christmas time, too. I'm hoping we'll end up somewhere warm and relaxing.
Do you have any pets?
Yes, we have a dog named Boone. He is a Pomapoo, a Pomeranian and a poodle mix. Quite the lap dog.
Favorite movie?
Probably Pretty Woman.
What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I'm an only child? I don't know. I don’t have anything interesting or surprising, I’m pretty much an open book. People can come by NEOvations or schedule an MTM appointments.