August 9, 2017

WASHINGTON, DC – The PTCB Board of Governors has announced that after leading PTCB through some of its most successful years of growth and advancement, PTCB's Executive Director and CEO Everett B. McAllister, MPA, RPh, Colonel, USAF (Ret.), has announced he will leave PTCB at the end of 2017 to pursue a new career in ministry. The Board has initiated a search for a new executive, and intends to fill the position by the end of the year. Col. McAllister plans to overlap with his successor during a transition period to ensure continuity in leadership.

“It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to serve in this capacity and I have enjoyed every minute of my time at PTCB,” said Col. McAllister. “I have met so many wonderful people in my travels. I am extremely proud of the patient care and other work done by the pharmacy community. The enthusiasm and dedication demonstrated by the pharmacy technician workforce is amazing. The decision to say goodbye was very difficult and required much prayer and counsel, but now is the right time. I know I am leaving PTCB in excellent condition.

“When I came to PTCB, we had much we wanted to achieve. During my tenure, we collaborated with the pharmacy community toward building consensus around pharmacy technician standards, rolled out PTCB Program changes to advance technician qualifications, optimized our online application and customer management systems, and launched the development of a new specialty certification. We did all this and much more, including expanded outreach to State Boards of Pharmacy, and the celebration of exceptional Certified Pharmacy Technicians (CPhTs) in new roles. The staff, volunteers and stakeholder leaders are energized in their commitment to our mission to advance medication safety by certifying qualified technicians for all practice settings.”

Before joining PTCB as Executive Director & CEO in March 2012, Col. McAllister served as the Deputy Director of the Pharmaceutical Operations Directorate, TRICARE Management Activity, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense in Washington, DC. He also served as the senior Department of Defense's (DoD) military pharmacist and policy advisor, responsible for managing a complex, multi-venued $7.6 billion pharmacy program, impacting more than 9.6 million DoD beneficiaries worldwide.

"On behalf of the PTCB Board of Governors, and with a mix of sadness and appreciation, I thank Everett for his five and a half years of dedicated service, leadership, and many accomplishments,” said Larry Wagenknecht, RPh, BPharm, Chair of the PTCB Board of Governors. “I congratulate him on his new career and wish him every success, but we are sorry to see him leave. Under his leadership, PTCB convened pharmacy stakeholders to begin developing the architecture to define a career path for technicians. Everett nurtured and strengthened strategic alliances and partnerships with major employers, educators, state pharmacy associations, and State Boards of Pharmacy. PTCB remains focused on continuing this forward momentum with an emphasis on excellence to fulfill our mission.” Mr. Wagenknecht said Col. McAllister’s leadership yielded many achievements, including:

• Collaborating to build alliances to advance medication safety
• Leading PTCB as total certifications granted exceeded 610,000
• Conducting PTCB’s public perception survey revealing that the public values certification and expects technicians to have the right credentials
• Hosting the 2017 Pharmacy Technician Stakeholder Consensus Conference to seek agreement on how best to ensure competency of pharmacy technicians
• Launching PTCB’s sponsorship initiative for educators and employers
• Expanding PTCB’s international relationships through the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP)
• Upgrading PTCB’s database and customer management system, thereby increasing efficiency, and expanding staff from about 17 to 30
• Launching initiatives to enhance the image of CPhTs and the PTCB brand, including PTCB’s annual Progress Report and the PTCB CPhT of the Year

Regarding PTCB’s future, Col. McAllister said, “PTCB has a strong commitment to defining pharmacy technician career pathways, and will continue to work tirelessly to find common ground in the pharmacy community to accomplish this. PTCB has a great future ahead as the organization will increasingly serve young CPhTs entering the evolving pharmacy workplace."