FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2017
Media Contacts:
Chad Clinton
Associate Director, Public Relations
American Pharmacists Association
(202) 429-7558
WASHINGTON, DC – The California Pharmacists Association (CPhA) has selected Pierre S. Del Prato, PharmD, MS, RPh, as the recipient of the 2017 Bowl of Hygeia Award for outstanding community service. Del Prato was presented the award at the 2017 Western Pharmacy Exchange on Friday, February 24. The Bowl of Hygeia is sponsored by the American Pharmacists Association Foundation, the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, and the American Pharmacists Association, with support from Boehringer Ingelheim.
Del Prato has contributed to his community since graduating from the Ohio State University in 1972. He is recognized for his outstanding and continuing activity in the community and outside of the profession. He demonstrates how pharmacists can elevate themselves and their profession in the eyes of the public through participation in community civic programs or participation in government activities at the local or state level.
Del Prato continues involvement with the Sacramento Pharmacists Association’s (SVPhA), and the American Heart Association (AHA) Heart Walk in William Land Park in Sacramento every September. He coordinated efforts with Catholic Healthcare West (later renamed Dignity Health), as well as the local pharmacy schools, California NorthState University College of Pharmacy and University of the Pacific Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, to have an exercise/fundraising walking group with SVPhA. Del Prato’s commitment to pharmacy extends past SVPhA to other facets of healthcare. Each year, he travels to speak to intern pharmacists and other health professions on substance abuse. He is a spokesperson to UCSF intern pharmacists and members of Phi Delta Chi on addiction in the pharmacy profession. He spent two terms as Coordinator for the APhAAPPM Addiction Practitioner Interest Group, and is a member of the National Advisory Group, Pharmacy Section, University of Utah School on Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies, and has also served as a Board member of the Southwest Pharmacists Recovery Network (SWPRN).
Del Prato has acted as president and Board member of organizations that provide residential and transitional treatment to alcohol and drug dependent individuals, including Gateway Foundation, Inc., and Recovery Homes of Sacramento, Inc. He has worked on multiple levels of community service locally, statewide, and nationally.
Established in 1958, the Bowl of Hygeia Award recognizes pharmacists who possess outstanding records of civic leadership in their communities and encourages pharmacists to take an active role in the affairs of their respective communities. The award is presented annually by participating state pharmacist associations, including those in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In addition to service through their local, state, and national pharmacy associations, award recipients have devoted their time, talent, and resources to a wide variety of causes and community service.
The Bowl of Hygeia is the most widely recognized international symbol for the pharmacy profession and is considered one of the profession’s most prestigious awards. The Bowl of Hygeia has been associated with the pharmacy profession since as early as 1796 when the symbol was used on a coin minted for the Parisian Society of Pharmacy. The bowl represents a medicinal potion and the snake represents healing. Healing through medicine is precisely why the pharmacy profession has adopted the Bowl of Hygeia symbol.
About the American Pharmacists Association Foundation
The APhA Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., is a trusted source of research demonstrating how pharmacists can improve health care. The APhA Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s health through pharmacists’ patient care services. The APhA Foundation is affiliated with the American Pharmacists Association, the national professional society of pharmacists in the U.S. For more information, please visit the APhA Foundation website www.aphafoundation.org. Follow the APhA Foundation on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.
About the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations
The National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA) promotes leadership, sharing, learning, and policy exchange among pharmacy leaders in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and provides education and advocacy to support pharmacists, patients, and communities working together to improve public health. NASPA was founded in 1927 as the National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives (NCSPAE). For more information, please visit the NASPA website www.naspa.us.