Wabasha

In 1898, the Sisters of Sorrowful Mother opened our community’s first hospital in the Milligan home. It was their unwavering commitment to rural healthcare that set the foundation for world-class healthcare in southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Today, Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s brings primary, specialty and emergency care to our neighbors of all ages. Our 25-bed critical access hospital in Wabasha also houses a pharmacy, 100 skilled nursing home beds, 46 assisted living apartments and a broad continuum of prevention, wellness, aging and outreach services. Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s has two on-site pharmacies. Our retail pharmacy fills roughly 250 prescriptions per day with a mix of maintenance prescriptions and new prescription from our attached clinic, ED, or hospital. Being attached to our hospital and clinic gives our retail pharmacists access to patient charts and easy access to nursing and providers. This close-knit relationship with nurses and providers also opens opportunity for assisting with drug questions from various departments and team members. Our hospital pharmacy services our hospital and ED departments as well as outpatient infusion (including chemotherapy). Our hospital pharmacy also houses our long-term care pharmacy that fills prescriptions and manages medications for our skilled nursing residents.

Primary Preceptor: Brady Ritscher, PharmD

Lead Pharmacist- Outpatient Pharmacy

Brady graduated from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in 2013 with a degree in biochemistry and then from Concordia University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in 2017. Brady has worked at St. Elizabeth’s in various pharmacy roles since 2012 and was hired as a pharmacist after graduation in 2017. Brady has been the lead pharmacist for the outpatient pharmacy since 2020. Brady grew up just across the river in Alma, WI where his first pharmacy experience was job shadowing and working as a technician at Kassel City Drug before it’s closure. Brady’s professional interests lie in all aspects of rural pharmacy and related patient care. Outside of work, Brady enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, fishing, hunting, and various other outdoor activities. Brady has been a licensed preceptor since 2020 and enjoys teaching as well as learning with and from students. 

Supporting Preceptor: Kurt Henn, PharmD

Director of Pharmacy and Director of Outpatient Services

Kurt attended UW-Eau Claire for his pre-pharmacy coursework and received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy in 1995.  Since June 1995, he has been the Director of Pharmacy at St. Elizabeth’s where he oversees operations of the inpatient and outpatient pharmacies.  He also serves as the Director of Outpatient Operations providing leadership support to the Alma and Wabasha clinics, as well as the cardiac rehab, physical therapy, and respiratory therapy departments.  Kurt was a pharmacist member of the MN Board of Pharmacy from 2015 to 2019.  Kurt’s professional interests lie in infectious diseases, error prevention, and rural pharmacy.  Outside of work, Kurt enjoys spending time with his wife and family, raising cattle, gardening, listening to music, and snowmobiling.  

Tracy Henn, PharmD, MHA, CPPS

Director of Business Operations Total Quality Management

Tracy graduated from the University of Minnesota-College of Pharmacy in 1995 with a BS and Doctorate (PharmD) in Pharmacy and later with a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Colorado State University Global Campus in 2022.  Tracy has worked at St. Elizabeth’s since 1998.  Tracy was first hired as a clinical pharmacist and advanced her role into Director of Quality and Safety in 2010.  In 2015, Tracy added responsibility for patient care services when her role changed to Director of Patient Care Services and Quality.  In 2021, her role and responsibilities again changed to Director of Business Operations. Tracy currently has responsibility for the organizational quality, safety, and patient experience programs and also provides direct leadership support and oversight to several departments within St. Elizabeth’s (employee health, infection prevention, volunteer services, facilities, laundry, dietary/clinical nutrition, EVS, and emergency preparedness).  Tracy’s professional interests lie in change management and performance improvement, healthcare quality and safety, and organizational leadership, especially in a rural setting.  Outside of work, Tracy enjoys spending time with her husband and family, gardening, running, yoga, cross-country skiing, and spending time outdoors.

Amber McCaughey, PharmD, MPH

Lead Pharmacist - Inpatient Pharmacy

Amber attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison as an undergrad in chemistry. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Pharmacy in 2010 with an additional certificate in global health and the School of Medicine and Public Health in 2012. Her MPH capstone paper was on expanding pharmacy services in rural areas. Amber started working at Divine Savior Hospital in Portage and CVS in Madison upon completion of her pharmacy studies. Upon moving to Eau Claire in 2012, she continued working concurrently in both hospital and retail settings at Walmart as a manager and at Oakleaf Surgical Hospital. In 2021 she began working for HSHS St. Joseph's and HSHS Sacred Heart Hospitals in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire, discovering a passion for emergency medicine pharmacy and remaining until their closure in 2024. Amber currently works at St. Elizabeth's as the lead hospital pharmacist. Amber grew up in Blair, WI and was introduced to healthcare working as a CNA in the local nursing home. Outside of work, Amber enjoys spending time with family, running, swimming, reading, and skiing. 

Stacy Sass, PharmD 

Clinical Pharmacist, Long-Term Care Consultant Pharmacist

Stacy graduated from Creighton University School of Pharmacy in Omaha, Nebraska in 2006. Stacy started as a pharmacist at St. Elizabeth’s in 2018 after beginning her career in various outpatient pharmacy roles at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  Stacy has been the long-term care consultant pharmacist for two St. Elizabeth’s long term care facilities since 2021.  Her other professional interests include pharmacogenomics, rare diseases, and process improvement. Outside of work, Stacy enjoys traveling (especially to warm locations with beaches), spending time with friends and family, skiing, and spending time on/in the water.

Melissa Forbes, PharmD, BCPS

Lead Pharmacist- Clinical Services

Melissa Forbes, PharmD, BCPS is the Lead Pharmacist- Clinical Services and Associate Program Director for the PGY1 Pharmacy residency at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, WI. Melissa graduated with her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy in 2010.  She subsequently completed her PGY1 pharmacy residency at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center. Melissa’s current role at Gundersen includes coordinating all the hospital-based IPPE and APPE rotations for three different schools of pharmacy. Melissa has interests in critical care and infectious diseases and serves as a preceptor for these learning experiences. She was awarded the UW- Madison School of Pharmacy IPPE Clinical Instructor of the year in 2017, the UW-Madison Pharmacy Alumni Association Young Alumna of the year in 2018 and the Gundersen PGY1 Pharmacy Preceptor of the Year in 2014 and 2022. Outside of work Melissa enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her family.

• Rotation and learning experiences will be primarily at the Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s Wabasha campus and include working in all areas of pharmacy and beyond. Students will work with our La Crosse campus to gain great experiences at a tertiary care center for acute care and in a pharmacy care clinic for ambulatory care required activities.
• Elective opportunities- Two main electives will be offered. Additional elective options may be available upon discussion on student interest or needs.

Rural health administration- focuses on various aspects of pharmacy admin in a rural setting (rural health clinic, 340B, antimicrobial stewardship, community engagement, etc.), clinic support, business services, and working with the Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s Community Development Foundation. 

Long-term care pharmacy- working directly with long-term care consultant pharmacist, nursing and nursing management, and long-term care providers to help improve the care given to our skilled nursing facility patients

• Our clinic offers opportunities to work with many specialties including dermatology, cardiology, ophthalmology, pain management, podiatry, wound care, outpatient infusion, and surgery.
• Interdisciplinary involvement is a strong emphasis at Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s. Students will have the opportunity to work with multiple different areas including the above specialties as well as shadowing opportunities with nurses in diabetes education, anticoagulation management, and in the hospital as well as shadowing with providers in long-term care, emergency medicine, and family medicine. These opportunities give pharmacy students unique looks at the interworking of the entire health care team and allow for time to work directly with multiple professionals in a plethora of different care settings.
• Being in a rural area and working with so many different areas of healthcare will allow for students to interact with patients from all walks of life. With that said, the majority of patients will be English speaking and from our rural communities. There will be a vast array of socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds seen.
• Travel will be required during the La Crosse activities and will be coordinated with our La Crosse team and the student.
• Hours of rotation will depend week-to-week based on current rotation activities. Hospital pharmacy hours are 7:00 AM- 4:30 PM and retail pharmacy hours are 8:30 AM- 5:30 PM
• The typical day will depend on area of focus but will primarily involve preparing for and attending interdisciplinary rounds for hospital patients, working with or shadowing team members from other departments, spending time on drug or research questions, working on projects specific to the various pharmacy
• Dress code is either business casual or scrubs, depending on student preference.
• Flexibility and willingness to see and work with many different areas will be necessary for a successful and beneficial learning experience. 

Free housing may be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Free housing is dependent on room availability. If free housing is not available, Gundersen St. Elizabeth’s staff will assist with securing local housing.