CASE STUDY
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THE JOURNEY FROM START-UP TO A FLOURISHING BUSINESS
After graduating with honors from the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy,
Ndidiamaka (Didi) Okpareke, PharmD, RPh spent nearly a decade in various retail and
hospital pharmacy roles. She returned to New Mexico in 2016 to begin working toward
realizing her dream of becoming an entrepreneur. A year later, Okpareke opened the
doors of the Olive Tree Compounding Pharmacy in Rio Rancho.
As founder and sole pharmacist, Okpareke began by compounding non-sterile
medications for families and pets. From the start, the pharmacy followed all relevant
US Pharmacopeia (USP) guidelines, including USP 795 for non-sterile preparations
and USP 800 for hazardous materials necessary for compounding medications. Over
time, Okpareke hired a pharmacy assistant and pharmacy technician. “Together, the
three of us built Olive Tree from the ground up,” she says. “It was really like a grassroots
movement.” In fact, they were so successful she realized they could achieve more.
To continue growing, Okpareke knew they would need a bigger space — but the
entrepreneur in her also knew she wanted it to be her own space. So, in 2020, she began
building a commercial real estate practice that led to a new facility. Still located in Rio
Rancho, the 6,000-square-foot building houses Olive Tree and has additional space for rent.
THE CHALLENGE: MOVING TO AUTOMATED
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
Okpareke’s vision was to add compounded sterile medications to Olive Tree’s offering.
To support that, she decided to build a clean room suite that included a clean room,
an ante-room, and a room for compounding hazardous materials. “To me, having an
amazing environmental monitoring system is essential to building a clean room suite,”
she says.
In their previous space, they monitored pressure and temperature manually
using a data logger. “We would dock the logger every morning, and it would
tell us what the temperature and pressure had been for the last 24 hours,”
she explains. While this worked well for their needs at the time, with the
GROWING A SUCCESSFUL COMPOUNDING
PHARMACY: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
Ndidiamaka (Didi) Okpareke,
PharmD RPh
Pharmacist, Founder
~ Olive Tree Compounding
Pharmacy
CASE STUDY
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plan to expand into sterile medications — Okpareke knew she wanted to automate
as many processes as possible. Her plan was to install a system that monitored the
pressure and temperature as well as humidity continuously.
When construction on the facility was wrapping up in April of 2024, Okpareke visited
the site and found that the HVAC subcontractor had only installed a HEPA filter. “I asked
when the environmental monitoring system would be going in — and realized pretty
quickly he didn’t understand what I needed,” Okpareke recalls. The problem? The State
Board of Pharmacy was due to inspect Olive Tree’s new space in less than a week.
That’s when she remembered meeting a representative from Rees Scientific at a recent
APC event. “The rep walked me through everything at the show and I thought it was
very cool,” she says. “Honestly, though, I thought it was probably more sophisticated
than anything we’d ever need.” She walked away thinking Rees’ systems were meant for
government labs and other large, high-level operations.
Still, Okpareke knew they’d be able to help her — even if that meant simply pointing her
in the right direction, so she decided to reach out. “I literally sent an email while I was
sitting in the parking lot of my new building, minutes after my conversation with the
HVAC contractor.” As it turned out, there was a Rees representative in Albuquerque that
day who could meet her within hours.
What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.
THE SOLUTION: AN AUTOMATED ENVIRONMENTAL
MONITORING SYSTEM IN LESS THAN A WEEK
“I told the rep from Rees what I was looking for and that it needed to be fast to install
and easy to use,” explains Okpareke. “He knew exactly what would work for us, and I
had a quote in my hand before the end of the day — which I approved right away.”
Two days later, a Rees technician came to the site with all the necessary equipment and
installation began. “Everything was in place and working in time for the State Board of
Pharmacy inspection,” she adds. “I still can’t believe it.”
Okpareke had her pharmacy tech go through the training process with Rees on how
to use the system. However, she says once she got through the inspection and logged
on for the first time — she found it all pretty intuitive. “Even though I didn’t go through
any formal training — I got the hang of it pretty quickly. With a few clicks, I can see the
readouts I need on all the environmental markers we are measuring.”
The Rees monitoring system is already doing its job. “Almost immediately, the system was
telling me that the pressure in our USP 800 room was too low,” explains Okpareke. That
means Olive Tree can’t start compounding anything that involves hazardous materials
because it puts whoever is working in the room at risk of absorbing harmful particles.
Rees sent a technician to re-evaluate the system and confirm it was working properly.
“I have to say, I was impressed by her thoroughness,” Okpareke says. “She didn’t just check
that everything was plugged in and running ‚— she looked at every single connection.”
The next step is for her contractor to conduct a Testing, Adjusting and
Balance assessment to check airflow in the HVAC system so they can map
back to the original plan and determine what’s causing the issue.
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In addition to complying with USP 795, 800 — and now 797 for sterile compounding
— Olive Tree also follows all Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA) as well as State Board of Pharmacy requirements. The pharmacy goes
through an external certification process every six months for the rooms and hoods
used for compounding. This includes taking air samples and samples from the hood to
verify there is no bacterial growth, as well as measuring pressure to ensure it is in range.
THE RESULT: A SCALABLE SYSTEM THAT POSITIONS OLIVE
TREE FOR FUTURE GROWTH
Today, Olive Tree has nine employees — and Okpareke says there’s so much more they
want to do. “Once we start compounding sterile medications, I think we will grow quickly.
It’s wonderful knowing I have a partner I can trust.” That, she says, comes down to the
people at Rees. “From the first day, I’ve received nothing less than white glove service,
and everyone I’ve encountered has been very professional and highly knowledgeable.”
Of course, the ease-of-use and reliability of the system itself is critical. “With a system
like this in place, I know I can grow in the right way — not only in terms of compliance
but also for the safety of our patients and staff.” What’s more, she adds that because
Rees has so many options, she can definitely see upgrading as the pharmacy continues
to expand its scope.
Okpareke’s advice to others? “No matter how small your operation or how big you want to
grow it — Rees has a solution that will take manual environmental monitoring off your plate.
Plus, you’ll have a knowledgeable, responsive team behind you that supports your vision and
goals every step of the way. That’s invaluable.”
“
With a system
like this in
place, I know I
can grow in the
right way — not
only in terms of
compliance but
also for the safety
of our patients
and staf.”
Ndidiamaka (Didi) Okpareke,
PharmD RPh
Pharmacist, Founder
~ Olive Tree Compounding
Pharmacy
LEARN MORE ONLINE
www.reesscientific.com
REES
Real-time Alerts and Alarm Notifications
via interactive phone, texts & e-mail
Risk Management and Preventative Maintenance
safeguard products & facilities, identify
critical trends & facilitate operational strategies
Rapid Service and System Support
ensure quick response times with regional service
technicians & 24/7/365 technical support
Data Integrity and Traceability
accurately record & securely store
environmental monitoring data
Maintain Product Quality and Minimize Loss
reduce risks of product contamination or loss by monitoring
temperature, humidity, differential pressure & more
Compliance with Regulatory Standards
ASHP,
Customization and Scalability
tailor a monitoring solution to different needs
that can grow & adapt with a facility
Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings
reduce the need for manual monitoring,
save labor costs & minimize human error
State-of-the-art monitoring solutions that
go beyond regulation— they provide peace of mind.