Embrace Servant Leadership, Says 2024 Zellmer Lecturer W. Michael Heath

Servant leadership is central to advancing pharmacy practice and patient care, said retired Army Col. W. Michael Heath as he delivered this year's William A. Zellmer Lecture in Bethesda, Maryland.

“Servant leadership incorporates leading by example,” Heath emphasized during the lecture, which took place Sept. 17 as part of ASHP’s annual Policy Week activities.

Heath told his audience that the most effective servant leaders are technical experts in their area of practice who understand the value of collaboration and engagement. These leaders, Heath emphasized, listen to their staff, provide opportunities for growth and advancement, and express gratitude for their teams’ work.

Heath also had special advice for students and pharmacists who are just beginning their journey as servant leaders.

“Buckle up and buckle down,” he said. “Be the best pharmacist you are capable of being. That is what patients deserve. Focus on your technical skills as a clinician and a leader, and focus on doing the best job you can in whatever position you are currently serving.”

Heath served for more than 30 years as a commissioned officer before retiring as chief pharmacist for the Army and consultant to the Army surgeon general. He was, for many years, the Army’s pharmacy representative to the ASHP House of Delegates, and he is a longtime Policy Week participant.

In 2020, ASHP renamed the annual slate of Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition programming for federal pharmacists the W. Mike Heath ASHP Federal Forum, in honor of Heath’s extensive contributions to the forum’s success.

In reflecting on his own career of service, Heath described memorable instances in which he and other federal pharmacists have stepped up to meet operational and leadership challenges at home and abroad.

Heath recalled that in 2003, the Army discovered that soldiers who were deployed to Iraq were “running out of their medications.” Heath and an Army Medical Service Corps leader were tasked with fixing the problem.

That collaboration changed the medical logistics process to include the provision of an adequate initial medication supply for deployed soldiers and the implementation of an effective medication replenishment process throughout the deployments. A version of that system, Heath said, “continues to this day in support of our deployed service members.”

Heath also praised the service and leadership of pharmacists and their colleagues in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic and earlier disasters, including hurricanes Katrina, Wilma, and Rita in the Gulf Coast and the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

“I’m sure there will be other hurricanes or significant natural disasters ahead in the future where they will … provide support,” Heath said.

Servant leadership is also central to the work of the Clinical Pharmacy Practice Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Heath said. Through the office’s work, VA pharmacists are able to fully use their clinical expertise to improve the health of the nation’s veterans.

“When the program office began in 2010, there were just a few passionate employees to serve the clinical needs of over 6,000 pharmacists,” Heath said. “There now are over 11,000 pharmacists in the Department of Veterans Affairs. And of that number, 5,300 are clinical pharmacist practitioners.”

Heath also praised the many pharmacy leaders of the past and present who have shaped federal pharmacy, ASHP, and the profession.

“A common thread among a few extraordinary pharmacy leaders on whose shoulders our professional stands today is, they all have grit; in other words they have passion,” Heath said. “They deliver results. They persevere. Failures don’t discourage them. They finish what they began and, above all, they motivate and inspire those they lead and others around them.”

Heath urged his audience to also have grit, to embrace the boundless opportunities in pharmacy, and to be the best they can be.

“Always be of service to those you lead, to the patients you serve, and the communities in which you live,” he said.

The William A. Zellmer Lecture, established in 2009 by ASHP and the ASHP Foundation, recognizes exceptional leadership in healthcare-related policy that enables pharmacists to improve the safety and effectiveness of medication use.