Building a Centralized Pharmacy Service Center to Drive Scalable Growth for a Midwestern Health System

A Midwestern health system was in need of a modernized pharmacy infrastructure for supporting enterprise-wide growth. While it had a distribution center in place, pharmacy services remained fragmented. The solution: align pharmacy transformation with broader organizational goals by implementing a fully centralized pharmacy service center (CPSC).

The Challenge: Fragmented Services & Limited Space Stood in the Way of Growth

The organization faced space constraints, aging infrastructure, and a disjointed pharmacy footprint. The system needed a scalable, centralized solution to support expanding services, improve efficiency, and align with the health system’s holistic goals.

“We were stuck within the four walls of our operations,” says the system’s Vice President of Outpatient Pharmacy. “We couldn’t grow anymore. We needed to find a better building and more efficient ways to operate.”

“COVID accelerated the realization that we couldn’t keep operating like this,” adds another system Vice President. “Home infusion was in a strip mall, specialty pharmacy hadn’t moved off campus, and synergy was lacking.”

The team faced a complex challenge: bringing these moving parts together into a single, cohesive model. Success depended on finding a partner with the expertise to guide the integrated service center from strategy to implementation, without missteps.

The Solution: A Partnership for Every Step, From Vision to Execution

To bring their CPSC vision to life, the health system partnered with Visante. Our team was involved in every phase of the project, blending strategic insight with day-to-day collaboration.

“Nobody builds a centralized service center twice. You get one shot at it,” explains Jim Lund, Senior Director at Visante. “That’s what makes Visante unique. Our experience in the consolidated service center space augments what our client is already good at. Once the path and vision are mutually understood, we help support and lead them through it.”

 1. Discovery & Stakeholder Engagement

Visante conducted interviews across pharmacy leadership and cross-functional departments, surfacing gaps, goals, and growth limitations. These conversations informed the design of the system’s consolidated model, which prioritized the integration of key services:

• Long-term care pharmacy operations
• Centralized repackaging and sterile compounding
• Retail pharmacy (specialty/mail order)
• Home and ambulatory infusion

2. Strategic Planning & Facility Design

Within the first six months of partnership, we led the health system through a comprehensive planning process, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, including supply chain, design, and architectural partners. From this, we created:

• A functional, flexible CPSC design
• Scalable workflows across five service lines
• Integration strategies for pharmacy within Epic

“Visante didn’t just advise, they were in the room for every decision—during weekly two-hour meetings for two years,” shares our client. “Every department had a voice and Visante helped us turn shared decision-making into shared success.”

3. Collaborative Execution & Transition Planning

Together, we facilitated design refinements, addressed regulatory requirements, and ensured operational readiness. As go-live approached, the focus shifted to transitioning ownership in a way that balanced continued support with growing autonomy.

“We figured out a sweet spot,” shares the Vice President of Outpatient Pharmacy. “If we had taken ownership too early, we could have missed out on Visante’s value. Too late, and our team would have struggled to take true ownership. Visante helped us make that transition at the perfect time.”

Results: A High-Performing Center Designed to Evolve

The launch of the centralized pharmacy service center resulted in:

• Scalable growth capacity: A 330,000-square-foot facility supporting long-term expansion
• Improved collaboration: Centralized leadership, shared workflows, and daily interdepartmental synergy
• Enhanced operational efficiency: Automation, dedicated workflows, and centralized compounding and repackaging
• Integrated Epic workflows: Seamless EHR transition with pharmacy positioned for success
• Stronger enterprise alignment: Expanded collaboration across pharmacy, supply chain, lab, biomed, and more

“The service center delivers consistent value,” says our client’s System Vice President of Supply Chain & Sustainability. “You walk down the hall and pharmacy and supply chain teams are constantly working side-by-side. We built something with a future.”

Centralized Service Center Launch: A Platform for Health System Transformation

The success of this health system’s centralized pharmacy service center came down to shared trust, strong internal leadership, and a true partnership. Today, the new CPSC serves as a launchpad for innovation, enabling entrepreneurial growth across pharmacy, lab, biomed, and supply chain. With this investment, our client is positioned not only to scale, but to lead.

Ready to build your own foundation for transformation? Contact Visante to explore how we can help turn your pharmacy vision into measurable enterprise value.