Lifelong pharmacist Phillip Burgess ( RPh, DPh, MBA ) and longtime LGBT activist has been named honorary president of the American Pharmacist Association ( APhA ).
Burgess will be inducted as honorary president at the March 2017 APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco.
"The term runs for one year and is a lifetime achievement award position acknowledging the contribution an individual has made to the whole pharmacy profession," said Burgess.
He will also be addressing the entire convention at the 2017 annual meeting and will attend the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Baltimore in March to thank the APhA leadership for selecting him for this post.
"As honorary president , I will be included in APhA board meetings and provide input to the various initiatives of the organization," said Burgess.
This post caps off a lifetime of advocacy on behalf of pharmacists and a 40-year career working for Walgreens in a variety of capacities, including National Director of Pharmacy Affairs, National Director of Pharmacy Operations, Director—Intercom Pharmacy Operations, Corporate Manager of Personnel Recruitment, Store Manager, Pharmacy Manager and Staff Pharmacist.
Burgess left Walgreens in 2009 to start his own company—Philip Burgess Consulting, LLC. His company provides support and representation to healthcare related businesses/organizations, entrepreneurs, trade associations and governmental agencies.
"My work at Walgreens allowed me to develop a wide range of associates active in the governmental and regulatory area," said Burgess. "Also, as a member of the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy, I realized the importance of helping companies to affect legislative and regulatory changes that would allow their products to be maximized to improve patient care."
The primary focus of Philip Burgess Consulting, LLC. is, according to its website, "to assist clients in expanding patient access to quality and cost-effective health care. Specifically, we assist our clients to understand and comply with current pharmacy regulations in all 50 states. We also help our clients analyze and propose changes to pharmacy regulations that expand the use of new technology and delivery systems."
Burgess was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, and even before he applied to college his father—who was also a pharmacist and owned several drugstores—told him he would get a pharmacy degree before deciding what else he wanted to do with his life. He received his pharmacy degree from the University of Tennessee and got his MBA from the University of Chicago.
"That's how I became a pharmacist," said Burgess. "My father was a very religious man and instilled in me a strong sense of ethics for which I am thankful. His work in the drugstores was always secondary to his commitment to God and the church. An interesting fact is that Elvis Presley attended our church, First Assembly of God in Memphis, before and after he became famous. My father was his Sunday School teacher."
Getting hired at Walgreens right out of college is what brought Burgess to Chicago and he's been here ever since.
"I came out and never looked back," said Burgess. "Coming from a strict Pentecostal background, there certainly were some internal conflicts, but I never regretted my decisions early in life."
Currently, Burgess serves as president of the Community Pharmacy Foundation, is on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and is in his 14th year as a member of the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy—including five terms as chairman.
Previously, he served as APhA's representative on the HIT Advisory Board, was a member of the Pharmacy e-Health Information Technology Collaborative and served on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS during the Clinton and Bush Administrations.
Along with his various philanthropic work on behalf of pharmacists, Burgess has also been an LGBT activist for a number of years including many years as a member of the National Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ).
"My husband, Jim Nutter, and I have provided financial support to multiple LGBT organizations over the years including HRC, the Center on Halsted, Howard Brown, Equality Illinois, AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Lambda Legal," said Burgess.
Burgess has also received the NACDS Harold Pratt Lifetime Achievement Award and the Operation PUSH Unity Partner Award.
As for his advice to young professionals, Burgess said that the one thing he learned from "working in a corporate environment was that nothing is more valued by an organization than integrity. I'm thankful to my father for instilling that importance in me.
"Walgreens is a very conservative organization. Being open about my sexuality, however, never impacted my ability to be successful and to continue to rise in the company. Because I was honest and straight-forward about who I was, I think it actually was a plus to my career advancement, not a handicap. I urge young people who are struggling with being open both at work and to their families, that they can reflect on my success and this honor that I have received and realize that they too can achieve without hiding who they are."
When not working and participating in philanthropic endeavors, Burgess and his husband spend time with friends and enjoy entertaining at their house. They are also active travelers.
"I have a small row of flower boxes off of my balcony that I thoroughly enjoy changing and decorating for the different seasons," said Burgess.
See www.philburgessconsulting.com and www.pharmacist.com for more information .
