Daniel O'Neil

His Story
Daniel O'Neil, who is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earned a BS from the University of Pittsburgh and a PharmD from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed a postgraduate year 1/postgraduate year 2 residency in health-system pharmacy administration at University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals, along with his MS in pharmacy administration from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He is assistant vice president of pharmacy and health-system pharmacy administration and leadership residency coordinator at West Virginia University Hospitals.

Facility
The West Virginia University Health System, West Virginia’s largest health system with more than 1,800 beds and largest private employer, is comprised of 16 member hospitals, including a children’s hospital; three managed hospitals; and five institutes, all anchored by WVU Hospitals, the 750-bed academic medical center in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Recent Significant Projects
The most impactful projects I have worked on over the last few years include revamping our pharmacy technician career matrix, implementing a pharmacy technician training program, growing our pharmacy services and residency programs to care for more patients, and expansion of ambulatory care pharmacists within numerous clinics across our organization.

Involvement in ASHP
I currently serve as Vice-Chair for the Section Advisory Group (SAG) on Strategy and Industry Disruptors within the Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders (SPPL). In addition, I serve as a member of the ASHP Council on Pharmacy Management.

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 
I first became involved in ASHP as a pharmacy student within our Student Society of Health-System Pharmacists (SSHP). SSHP provided me a solid foundation to build my network across the country and gave me access to numerous resources as I prepared my residency search. It was our school's SSHP that motivated me to pursue a career in pharmacy administration and has allowed me to grow my career to where it is today.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area 
My advice to anyone interested in pursuing a career in pharmacy administration would be to build your network and learn from others. There are so many talented pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across the country working on the similar issues. Use professional organizations, such as ASHP, to learn from others and build your knowledge base.

How would you explain the value of ASHP to a friend or colleague?
While I have been involved with ASHP for over a decade, I continue to find ways to be active and stay engaged. ASHP advocates for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians at a national level, promotes pharmacy education and research, and fosters networking within the profession. I have found all of these beneficial throughout my career as I have been able to learn from so many others across the country. 

What is the value of ASHP for the profession?
ASHP is a forum for our health-system pharmacists to work collaboratively to provide the best patient care. Regardless of specialty or practice area, ASHP provides support to all pharmacy employees within health-systems to be the best provider of possible.