Walgreens' Sandra Ryan Elected to Fellowship of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Sandra Festa Ryan, MSN, chief nurse practitioner and clinical advocate for Walgreens Take Care Health Systems, has been elected to the Fellowship of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

The College was founded in 1787 by a group of physicians including Benjamin Rush, MD, and is the nation’s oldest medical society dedicated to advancing the cause of health while upholding the ideals and heritage of medicine.

One of six founding officers of Take Care Health Systems and a founding board member of the Convenient Care Association (CCA), Ryan was the first chief nurse practitioner officer in the convenient care industry. She has been instrumental in developing and implementing clinical standards and evidenced-based guidelines delivered by operators in the retail-based setting.

Within Take Care Health Systems, Ryan has implemented a company-wide quality assurance program, ensuring consistency in quality care through the establishment of standard operating procedures using nationally recognized evidence-based guidelines. In addition, she has helped to lead the development of a proprietary electronic medical record system used at Take Care Clinics at select Walgreens nationwide.

“We are pleased to welcome Sandy to the Fellowship. Through her leadership she has demonstrated commitment to enhancing the role that nursing can play in the future of health care,” said George M. Wohlreich, MD, director and CEO of the College, in a statement. “Through her dedication and advocacy, she’s benefitted nurses and nurse practitioners by opening doors to new opportunities, helped to reinforce the value of a collaborative health care team to take care of a patient, and increased access for patients to receive high-quality, convenient health care.”

As the chair of the clinical advisory board of the CCA, Ryan was instrumental in the development and implementation of the CCA’s 10 quality and safety standards for the convenient care industry and has implemented a third-party certification process. As the chair of the provider task force to ensure quality educational offerings for convenient care providers, she helped to orchestrate the first ever Retail Congress Conference to address the educational needs of providers and to foster camaraderie and support for this new model of health care. Ryan has been the recipient of the American College of Nurse Practitioners’ Nancy Sharp Cutting Edge award and the Retail Clinician Congress’ CARE Leadership Award for her contributions to nurse practitioner practice in the convenient care industry.

Ryan has more than 25 years of health care and leadership experience and is a highly decorated US Air Force officer. Ryan earned a BSN in nursing from Niagara University and an MSN from Arizona State University. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and an executive nurse fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.