Health Center Pharmacy Gets New Leader, Maintains Caring Service

Bentley has transitioned to staff pharmacist.

"I feel lucky to have had this extraordinary career here, and I'm looking forward to the next phase of it," said Bentley, also a clinical assistant professor in pharmacy practice.

Bentley came to Ole Miss after nearly a decade as a pharmacist, and she found a community unlike any she had known. She has watched the university grow and evolve while she guided the pharmacy through changes that kept pace.

"Our student population is more than double what it was when I started here," she said. "That statistic alone means the volume is very different today from when I began 25 years ago."

Pharmacy Health Services has grown along with the campus, undergoing renovations to become more accessible and customer-facing. Under Bentley's watch, the site expanded its physical footprint and added a private room for consultations and vaccinations, significant upgrades for a facility serving thousands of students and employees.

"I want to thank Sandy Bentley for her extraordinary 25 years of service to the University of Mississippi," said Donna Strum, dean of the School of Pharmacy. "Sandy's impact reaches far beyond dispensing medications.

Besides Bentley and Westmoreland, the group includes pharmacy technician Alyson Hamm and a work-study student each semester.

As director, Bentley has demonstrated commitment to serving the campus community, including coordinating pharmacy services and immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring medication access during winter storm "Fern." Her leadership has also driven the offering of various pharmacy services and supported new initiatives.

"She has cared deeply for our students and employees while also providing an outstanding training site for our student pharmacists," Strum said. "Her dedication, professionalism and commitment to our campus community have made the Student Health Pharmacy a trusted and essential resource."

The pharmacy serves as a residency training site and offers various medication management services across campus.

Westmoreland has spent the last 12 years as a staff pharmacist and instructor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. For him, the appeal of the job is more than simply the work itself.

"This job serves a unique population and that's part of what makes this such a great job," he said. "We serve university employees, and this is wonderful for them to have their pharmacy and medical facility within walking distance. And we serve students, who are on their own for the first time in their lives, and we have the opportunity of being a source of reassurance and comfort for them."

The transition from home to college, from a parent managing prescriptions to a student navigating their own health, is something Westmoreland thinks about often.

"Most of our students have never lived away from their families and they haven't had to think about things like making appointments to see a doctor or pick up their medicine," he said. "It can be scary and intimidating to be sick and far away from home, so we try to be understanding and helpful and let the students and their parents know that we're going to take care of them."

Westmoreland hopes to raise awareness of services that students may not realize are available, including medication delivery. And he's happy to be doing that alongside people he enjoys being around in an environment he loves.

"I'm thankful to Sandy for her leadership and I'm glad she'll still be working with us," he said. "And Alyson Hamm, our pharmacy technician, is top-notch and helps keep this place running smoothly. This team is the best I've ever worked with."

Top: Chad Westmoreland (center) watches as a student pharmacist gives a vaccination as part of her vaccine administration certification. Westmoreland, who has been a staff pharmacist for 12 years, is the new director of Pharmacy Health Services at the university's V.B. Harrison Health Center. Photo by Sage McNamara/School of Pharmacy