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.