Full Service Medication Dispensary
Refill a Prescription
Get the fastest response for refills with this online form. Medication Dispensary Holiday Closures
- November 28, 29
- December 24, 25, 26, 27
We are a full-service medication dispensary that fills prescriptions, provides intravenous admixture service, formulates and prepares compounded medications, and advises on dosages and pharmacy calculations.
Medications may be filled for clients only for conditions currently being treated by hospital clinicians.
Prescription refills can now be ordered online by filling out this online form.
Client Tutorials
Watch videos or download informational handouts on how to handle or give medications to pets.
Do you have unused medication?
Here are some resources on how to dispose of unused medications.
The Medication Dispensary is open Monday through Friday 8 AM to 5 PM.
For clients picking up medication after-hours or on the weekend, please proceed to the Small Animal Clinic front desk. All filled prescriptions are taken to the front desk when the Medication Dispensary is closed, except for controlled substances. Clients intending to pick up a controlled substance after hours/weekends will need to wait for an available ER doctor to retrieve the prescription from the Medication Dispensary.
How To Find Us
For medication pick up, follow the signs for Medication Dispensary and park in the prescription pick up parking spots during our open hours. Head West on Hazelwood Drive off Lincoln Avenue
Turn right after the parking lot for the Small Animal Clinic.
Education, Research and Outstanding Clinical Care
Mission Statement: As a support service for the entire VTH the Medication Dispensary’s mission aligns with the College’s mission which encompasses education, research, and outstanding clinical care. The Medication Dispensary staff works to provide exceptional patient care while ensuring house officers and students receive opportunities to learn medication-related skills essential to practicing high quality care in a setting without a pharmacist and pharmacy technician presence.
Medication Dispensary Short and Long Term Goals
- Support high quality research study design and implementation as it relates to drug therapy.
- Provide learning opportunities to ensure veterinary graduates and house officers are prepared to continue providing high quality medication therapy in practice settings without a pharmacist and pharmacy technician.
- Work collaboratively with other hospital services to enhance patient care, teaching, and research.
- Manage drug inventory and provide compounding capabilities to ensure consistent availability of first line therapies.
- Provide education and support to clients and our referring veterinarians.
The Medication Dispensary at Illinois is designed to be a full hospital support service similar to Diagnostic Imaging and Anesthesiology. As such, the Medication Dispensary provides the following services to our hospital:
Compounding (Sterile and Non-sterile)
With a large non-sterile compounding room and a USP 797/800 compliant cleanroom, we are able to provide many sterile and non-sterile medication options. Our residency-trained pharmacists are happy to discuss any desired formulations and determine the feasibility and economic viability of preparing high quality compounds in-hospital. We also provide injectable chemotherapy preparation in our negative pressure cleanroom in compliance with USP 800 safety guidelines.
Medication Ordering, Supply, and Inventory Management
With our Office Support Specialist and Medication Dispensary Coordinator specializing in inventory management and procurement, we can maintain a diverse formulary at appropriate levels to ensure the appropriate therapy is available for all species. Our staff continuously monitor and address potential backorder issues. For critical medications, our veterinary-trained pharmacists work with faculty from the affected services to develop alternative treatment plans to ensure patient care isn’t compromised.
Drug Information
Our veterinary pharmacists are happy to address questions posed by referring veterinarians, clients and faculty, staff and students at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Error and Adverse Event Monitoring
While error prevention is a hospital-wide concern, medications are frequently involved in errors and adverse events. Therefore, a pharmacist is actively involved in the management of the incident reporting form as well as the Quality Improvement Committee and Morbidity and Mortality Rounds. The entire Medication Dispensary staff is committed to ensuring that each error is reported by one or more of the people involved with the case. Only through determining what is happening and evaluating the associated system issues will we be able to prevent reoccurrence. This also serves as a platform for documenting drug interactions and adverse events for reporting to the FDA which supports patient care beyond the walls of our hospital.
Teaching
Veterinary pharmacy concepts are essential to teach to veterinary and pharmacy students. Therefore, the medication dispensary staff assist with this through numerous didactic, clinical, and incidental teaching opportunities to all four years of the veterinary curriculum as well as house officers and staff. The Medication Dispensary also serves as an APPE site for multiple pharmacy schools to provide clinical rotation experiences to pharmacy students. From the aspect of educating those outside of the teaching hospital, our pharmacists write educational columns for our referring veterinarian newsletter about current questions/issues relating to medications. We also have a collection of publicly available client handouts and informational videos to assist with medication counseling.
Research
Research studies and grant applications can be leveled up by working with a veterinary pharmacist. Our pharmacists assist with background research, identification of funding, input during the grant application process, study design suggestions, drug procurement and preparation and manuscript development.
Regulatory Compliance and Advocacy
Regulatory compliance is essential and in the high-volume veterinary teaching hospital environment there is often a grey area. Our pharmacists work closely with hospital administration and University-wide and state agencies to ensure compliance. There are also efforts to ensure our students are educated on regulatory compliance topics that will be relevant in practice. A VTH pharmacist is also actively involved with ISVMA through the Regulatory Committee which involves evaluating and providing input on potential stances for the organization to take on proposed legislation.
Clinical Interventions
Clinical pharmacists are starting to gain traction in veterinary medicine. Our clinical staff pharmacist supports faculty and staff, house officers, and students by reviewing patient charts for appropriate medication therapy, correct doses, and dosing intervals.