Charles M. West is currently President of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Foundation and has previously served the NCPA as president as well as Executive Vice President. Before selling the business, he was President and CEO of CARE PARTNERS, Inc., a Home Care Company specializing in high tech intravenous therapy, parenteral and enteral nutritional therapies, respiratory care services, and home medical equipment.

A 1963 graduate of the University of Arkansas School of Pharmacy, Dr. West owned and operated Kavanaugh Pharmacy, Inc., in Little Rock, Arkansas from graduation until 1975 when he became Executive Vice President of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. He served in this capacity for nine years until his appointment with NCPA in 1984. Dr. West joined NCPA's official family in 1978 and subsequently served as fifth, third, and first vice president, and secretary-treasurer, as well as chair of several NCPA committees. In 1982, he was elected to the Executive Committee of NCPA and was named its chair in 1984.

Dr. West is a past president of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association and has served as chairman of the Arkansas Rural Health Conference. He is a former president of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Pharmaceutical Foundation and was named Arkansas Pharmacist of the Year in 1972. Dr. West served on the University of Texas College of Pharmacy Dean's Advisory Council, the University of North Carolina College of Pharmacy Board of Visitors, and The University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy National Advisory Board. He also served on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Patient Information and Education, the Executive Committee of the National Council of State Pharmaceutical Association Executives, the Arkansas Society of Association Executives and as president of the National Drug Trade Conference.

Dr. West has received the Alpha Zeta Omega Achievement Medal, the John W. Dargavel Medal, and the J. Leon Lascoff Award, as well as honorary degrees from Long Island University's Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and from Mercer University. In 1995, Drug Topics Magazine named him one of The Ten Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States. Dr. West has also been honored by NCPA through the establishment of the Charles April 24, 2007first time in 1995 to United States Senator David Pryor of Arkansas.

About the lecture

"Opportunities and Responsibilities of Today's Pharmacists"

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"In his lecture, Dr. West will talk about his past experiences and present day knowledge of pharmacy in a variety of practice settings. His focus will be on opportunities and responsibilities for pharmacists both now and in the future. He will also address new directions for the profession, especially as they relate to patient acre. His discussion about privilege of being a pharmacist will firmly establish the entrepreneurial nature of pharmacy and the proactive role that must be assumed by pharmacists in ensuring effective therapeutic outcomes."

Quoted from the 2001 Linda H. and Calvin J. Anthony Lecture Announcement Brochure