Heather Howe joined UnitedRx from Wellfount Pharmacy with a vast amount of experience. As our Data Entry Supervisor, she is focusing on reshaping the department to create a better customer experience. In 2008 Heather started her pharmacy career at Wellfount LTC Pharmacy as a data entry technician; she was quickly promoted to Supervisor, and at the same time, began to manage the medical records department. Collaborating with all departments, Heather created the internal customer service department. In 2010 she led the process team to transition Wellfount to a 24/7 pharmacy; this involved hiring more staff and training on all new policies and procedures. A few years later, Heather transitioned to manage the Quality Assurance department and, as part of that, developed a new customer transition team in addition to rolling the data entry, medical records, and customer service team under her.

Heather lives on five acres outside the city, and with her husband and three daughters, she is working on recreating the farm life that she grew up with. She is raising chickens, vegetables, and other assorted animals. As her children attest, there is nothing like fresh eggs for breakfast.

Doug Scharf earned his pharmacist degree from St. Louis College of Pharmacy. His pharmacy career started on the traditional retail path at K-Mart. After ten years, Doug Scharf decided to expand his skill set and moved to Hormones Compounding Pharmacy, where he created lifesaving medications. Once mastered, Doug Scharf looked to Long Term Care pharmacy Omnicare to experience a new aspect of pharmacy. He grew from a staff pharmacist to a consultant and, finally, assistant director of operations. Hearing the call of Coram Home Infusion, Doug again moved on to master another side of pharmacy. Starting in 2009, Doug decided to return to Long Term Care at United Scripts as Director of Operations. In 2019 he joined us as Director of Regional Operations. Doug will be responsible for all pharmacy operations in our five satellite pharmacy locations – Carbondale, IL, Carmel, IN, Gallatin, TN, Henderson, NV, and Lenexa, KS.

In his spare time, Doug’s love of mountain biking and hiking keep his cardiovascular system in top shape (and wears a helmet). He can usually be found somewhere between St. Louis and Kansas City on the Katy Trail.

Kim Ayala serves as UnitedRx’s lead operations tech, managing all aspects of pharmacy workflow.  She has been with UnitedRx for 8 years and has worked in every department (except sales and marketing), so Kim is the ideal person to ensure that daily operations always run smooth.  Prior to joining UnitedRx, Kim was a Qualified Medical Aid (QMA) for several Indiana Skilled Nursing Facilities, this allows her to truly understand the pressures that nurses face daily.  With that understanding she strives to solves pharmacy related issues quickly with the least amount of impact to the facility and always remaining patient focused.

When Kim isn’t working you can find her obsessing over crime and forensic documentaries and literature.  The knowledge she gains in viewing and reading translates well to solving daily life “crimes” raising 4 children, a 5^th if you count her husband.

Ami Patel earned her PharmD degree in Pharmacy from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 2010. She began her career at United Scripts-Villa Park that same year as a staff pharmacist, prior to their merger with UnitedRx. Because of her strong leadership skills and understanding of LTC Pharmacy, Ami quickly moved up the ranks of the pharmacy and in 2013 was promoted to Director of Pharmacies for UnitedRx.

As Director, Ami manages all operations and staff at UnitedRx’s four pharmacies in three states. Under her charge, Ami has increased operational and staff efficiencies allowing for scalable growth and best-in-class customer service. Most importantly she ensures that UnitedRx and the facilities we serve stay compliant every step of the way. Ami is also a key component between pharmacy and facility EHR integrations.

In addition to her pharmacy responsibilities, Ami serves as an adjunct professor at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Roosevelt University. She enjoys teaching future pharmacists not only about pharmacy but long-term care pharmacy, including management. Ami is also a  member of the Illinois Pharmacy Association and American Society of Consultant Pharmacists.

In her free time, Ami loves to travel, having been to over 20 countries, bakes award-winning cupcakes (if only we could get her to enter a competition) and creates crafts for family and friends.

In charge of shouting the virtues of UnitedRx from the roof tops, Andrew Tutt has honed his marketing skills working in healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing communications, as a client advocate, account manager and project manager for large and small agencies. In addition, Andrew has worked with clients such as Takeda, AbbVie, Abbott, Genzyme, Cyberonics, Smith & Nephew, and MGI Pharma to develop strategic and compelling marketing and educational content. Andrew has had the opportunity to work on a wide range of therapeutic areas (from cardiovascular to wound care) and on products that are in various stages in their lifecycle – most recently serving as a lead on the launch of Duopa, AbbVie’s innovative treatment for Parkinson’s Disease as well as developing strategy for their oncology pipeline.

Andrew loves to be creative in the kitchen – good luck to his wife. He also secretly wants to bring professional attire back to the office in order to show off his bow tie collection.

Lisa Valentine joined UnitedRx in 2017 as the Billing Supervisor which includes the adjudication, prior authorization, billing and collections departments. She has been working in LTC, Retail and Hospital pharmacies since 2002. While Lisa has worked in all departments in all the various settings, she has concentrated on the billing and insurance aspect. She works tirelessly to ensure that the patient and their meds are taken care of at the least cost to patients.

As if raising two kids weren’t enough…a few years ago, Lisa’s love of forensics and science pushed her to attend and graduate from mortuary school.

Jennifer started her Long Term Care Pharmacy career as a driver at Sunscript in 2000.  Within 1 year, she was managing the capital equipment for all of Sunscript.  Jennifer quickly climbed the ladder to become the Logistics Manager for the next 12 years.  She joined UnitedRx in July of 2016 as Logistics Manager, bringing her vast experience and process improvement skills to our team.

Jennifer and her husband have been married for 14 years with 4 kids under the age of 13.  Because they don’t driver her crazy enough she teaches Sunday school to toddlers every weekend.  Jennifer is also fluent in American Sign Language.

Terry Mason has over 26-years’ experience in Pharmacy management specifically in Data Entry and Medical Records. At UnitedRx, Terry manages a staff of 15 to ensure that every facilities’ medical records are up to date monthly. She also leads the transition of new facilities to UnitedRx.  As the head of these two departments, Terry ensures that orders and records are completed on time and correct. Terry’s experience enables her to identify potential issues before they happen and take corrective action.

Terry developed her knowledge in medical records, data entry and transitions as staff and supervisor at several pharmacies including Posen/Sunscript HRA (now known as Symbria). She eventually found her way to ProCare and United Scripts-Villa Park and then made the move to UnitedRx after the merger.

Outside of work Terry pursues artistic endeavors. She spends time behind the lens taking pictures of nature that surrounds her home as well as capturing the moments of her children’s athletic careers. She also bakes themed cakes for her family and friends.

A graduate from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 2012, Emily Hargraves joined the UnitedRx team in September of 2016 as Pharmacy Manager of the Carbondale location. Her prior pharmacy experience consisted mostly of outpatient pharmacy work in Clinics. Emily has managed pharmacy operations for a large retail chain and managed a staff of 10 during 3 years as a Pharmacist-In-Charge.

Emily lives in Murphysboro with her husband. When she’s not working, Emily enjoys volunteering at her church and is an avid reader. When not working, reading or volunteering, Emily works with 60 head of cattle on her family’s 175 acre cattle farm

Chuck Benain is a leader in the Illinois pharmacy industry who has managed, founded and operated long-term care companies across the state and region. A licensed Illinois Registered Pharmacist, Chuck is currently a partner and Chief Operating Officer of UnitedRx, a Long-Term Care Pharmacy that services over 10,000 beds across Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio.

Prior to founding UnitedRx, Chuck served as President of Ryerson Healthcare, where he operated a long-term care pharmacy that serviced 800 skilled beds in the northern Illinois market. The company later merged with United Scripts-Villa Park which became UnitedRx in 2010. As an entrepreneur, Chuck has owned and operated a number of Illinois retail pharmacies including Ryerson Pharmacy (Chicago), Midway Pharmacy (Chicago), Thornton Pharmacy (Thornton) and C&P Pharmacy (Roselle).

Chuck began his career in 1987 at Walgreens, where he advanced from Store Manager to Staff Pharmacist to Pharmacist in Charge. He went on to found, and serve as lead consultant of, C&G Consultants, a clinical consulting firm for the State of Illinois intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled (ICFDD). Later, as Pharmacist in Charge at Dominick’s Pharmacy, Chuck opened and managed two retail pharmacies at suburban grocery store locations, the most successful openings in company history.

Chuck is an active member of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. He graduated with a B.S. in Pharmacy from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1987.

Heidy earned her pharmacy degree from University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. For the past 11 years she has been a consultant pharmacist, 8 of which have been with UnitedRx. As Lead Consultant, Heidy has the privilege of managing a team of consultant pharmacists and nurses that all strive to do the best for the residents, facilities and the nurses they service. Her responsibilities include clinical review of residents’ charts, recommending changes in medication therapies, participating in facility quality assurance meetings and assisting with survey preparedness. Over the last few years, as UnitedRx has grown, Heidy has grown her department and trains each new consultant pharmacists to have the highest level of discipline and customer services.

Outside of work, Heidy spends time with her husband, two-year old toddler and extended family. She also is a practitioner of yoga.