West Valley Medical Center Pharmacist Receives Pharmacy Award

Caldwell, ID – Taylor Nielson, Director of Pharmacy at West Valley Medical Center, has been selected as the “ Pharmacist of the Year” by the Idaho Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ISHP). The award, recognizing an individual’s contributions to pharmaceutical practices, comes solely from nominations from his peers across the state.

The mission of the ISHP, a non-profit organization, is to promote the highest levels of pharmacy practice throughout Idaho hospitals and health systems. They provide continuing education and support for pharmacists and technicians who work in non-retail settings.

Nielson served on the ISHP Board of Directors for 6 years, having spent the past four years on the board as legal and public affairs chairman. During this time, he worked closely with the board of pharmacy Executive Director, Mark Johnston, to re-write and reorganize the pharmacy laws and rules which apply to institutional practice. The project has been completed and is pending approval by the next legislature.

The biggest achievement in his role on the board was accomplishing a statute change to Idaho law requiring that the membership of the Board of Pharmacy include a health-system pharmacist. In 2013 the statute change was nearly unanimously approved and signed into law by Governor Otter, reaching a goal ISHP set 18 years ago.

“Taylor brings motivation to work every single day; his relentless energy is focused on serving our patients and physicians, ensuring a patient-safety approach is always top-of-mind, and continuously striving for quality improvement,” stated Julie Taylor, CEO of West Valley Medical Center.