Phoebe Launches New Pharmacy Technology for Employees
Albany, GA | October 7, 2025 – Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital (PPMH) is the first hospital in Georgia to utilize a pharmacy smart locker solution to make prescription pickup for employees more convenient and efficient. The hospital’s Employee Pharmacy deployed the advanced system that securely stores and dispenses medication, allowing employees 24/7 access to pick up prescriptions.
“The Phoebe Employee Pharmacy is part of the outstanding benefits package Phoebe provides employees, and this new technology only enhances our services. Our onsite pharmacy already offers great convenience of our staff, and Phoebe heavily invests in our pharmacy, underwriting prescription costs so we can provide most medications to our staff at cost, providing significant savings for them,” said Darren Evans, PharmD, Vice President of Pharmacy Services for Phoebe Putney Health System. “The smart locker is just one more way we can provide great service to our employees.”
Since the smart locker is only for use by Phoebe staff, it is located in a secure area next to the pharmacy that can only be accessed with an employee badge. Once a pharmacist prepares a patient’s medication, it is placed in a secure, automated locker compartment. The patient receives an electronic notification with a locker code which they can use to access their medication. Smart lockers enhance patient care by not only offering convenient, secure prescription pickup, but also by ensuring medication counseling remains readily accessible through integrated pharmacist support and communication options at the time of retrieval.
“This truly allows our employees to pick up their prescriptions on their schedule, not ours. We believe it will be especially beneficial for 2nd and 3rd shift employees who may not have time to come to the pharmacy during normal business hours to get their medication. Hopefully, that will boost medication adherence and help improve the health and wellness of our team,” Evans said.
Evans also expects the technology will streamline pharmacy operations and reduce wait times for patients.
The Phoebe Pharmacy team is made up of more than 70 pharmacists and 50 techs and other staff who operate 10 pharmacy locations. Those locations include inpatient pharmacies at all four of Phoebe’s hospitals, which processed more than 6 million medication orders last fiscal year.
Phoebe also operates two medication management clinics and four outpatient locations – two hematology/oncology locations, in addition to a specialty pharmacy and the employee pharmacy. The department opened a new retail location on the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital campus earlier this year that integrates services of the Phoebe Employee Pharmacy and Phoebe Specialty Pharmacy and is also open to the general public.
Phoebe administers a 340b Drug Discount Program and Indigent Drug Assistant Services at all four hospitals. The health system also has clinical affiliation agreements with multiple colleges of pharmacy, helping train third and fourth-year students, and Phoebe has operated a pharmacy residency program since 2008.