At the St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy (SVDPCP) in Cincinnati, Lydia (Weaver) Bailey, PharmD ’15, improves health outcomes for the underserved and trains student pharmacists.

With every interaction, she radiates kindness and compassion. Her work is a calling, she says.

“My guiding philosophy is my faith that there is a God who loves me and created me with the exact skillset and life experiences to serve patients, students, and co-workers.”

In recognition of her remarkable life of service, Ohio Northern University is pleased to award Lydia the 2024 William L. Robinson Young Alumni Award.

Lydia is the pharmacy operations manager at SVDPCP, a last-resort, safety-net service, dedicated to providing free medication and comprehensive pharmaceutical care to uninsured and underinsured Ohio residents.

Since opening in 2006, the Charitable Pharmacy has dispensed over 800,000 free prescriptions, with a value exceeding $115 million, said Lydia.

“People in financial crisis often make choices that sacrifice their health, including forgoing their prescription medications to pay for other basic necessities such as rent, utilities, or food. When we can relieve the burden of the cost of medications, we save lives."

Lydia didn’t start out with a clearly-defined career path. A series of events—which she describes as “divine intervention”—led her to where she is now. ONU happened to be one of the defining experiences in her journey.

It started with Lydia’s parents suggesting to her in high school that pharmacy would be a good career path.

“Thankfully I listened to them. But I went to pharmacy school and I did not have a clue what a pharmacist did!”

Three years into ONU’s PharmD program, an internship that focused on “everything but patient care” almost made her change direction. Then, a mission trip to Pakistan showed her that pharmacists could make a difference.

“I came back to class on fire knowing that underserved care would be the thing that blended my passion,” she said, “and my ONU professors really supported me in that.”

At ONU, she also logged “thousands of miles” with teammates running cross country and indoor and outdoor track. Under the tutelage of Coach Jason Maus, she learned life skills such as how to set goals, build endurance, and deal with disappointment.

Her athletic experience, combined with her participation in Northern Christian Fellowship, also showed her how to build a supportive, caring community.

All these skills and experiences, she said, allowed her to excel at SVDPCP and take on increasing responsibility.

One of her early lessons at the Charitable Pharmacy—and one she always shares—is that her patients aren’t always the poorest of the poor, but many times “neighbors, co-workers, people just like your family.”

She recounts a retired patient who had worked all her life and owned a home and a car. When Lydia expressed her surprise at the patient’s need, the patient responded, “oh honey, we are all one disease state away from needing a charitable pharmacy.”

“That really got my attention,” said Lydia. “Medically underserved means you make too much money for government insurance but not enough money to afford what you need. And with how certain products are priced, anyone can be medically underserved.”

One of Lydia’s most significant professional accomplishments is helping to get Ohio House Bill 558 signed into law. It allows patients to donate unused medications to charitable pharmacies. Before, these medicines had to be disposed of, and it was a huge waste of products that others desperately needed.

Lydia’s co-workers created the policies and procedures for accepting donations, and she testified on behalf of the bill. It was passed unanimously through the House and Senate and signed into law in just over a year.

Since the bill passed, says Lydia, “we have not had to purchase a single vial of insulin and have not run out of any class of inhaler. Truly an answer to many, many prayers.”

SVDPCP also serves as a precepting site for students, hosting over 90 learners a year. Lydia finds great joy in mentoring the next generation of pharmacists.

“Seeing students’ confidence soar when a patient tells them they saved their life is one of the most rewarding things in my career.”

ONU pharmacy students give Lydia rave reviews, with one stating that “she is kind, considerate, and knowledgeable, and I hope to be half the pharmacist she is one day.”

Outside of work, Lydia is mom to 4 children, ages 7, 5, 3, and 1, with another child on the way! Her husband, Corban Bailey, BSCE ’12, stepped away from the workforce to care for their children so that Lydia can focus on her ministry.

But Lydia never forgets the picture frame that Dr. Natalie DiPietro-Mager, professor of pharmacy practice, gifted her at graduation.

“It still sits on my desk and it says: ‘Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life.’ I love that wisdom and I am grateful for how God has given my work/life balance so much favor.”

All credits for this article belong to Ohio Northern University. The original article can be found here.