hospital pharmacist pay?

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Pharmaco1234

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How much does hospital pharmacist usually get paid starting out? Per hour? Per year?
 
Why is there such a big range? Didn't think it would get as high as $85
 
I would chime in....but as Confettiflyer hinted at, the answer really is obvious. I will say, in most areas of the country, retail pays (IMO-others don't consider $10,000-$15,000/year more considerable) considerably more than hospital, CA is an exception due to the Kaiser union and labor laws.
 
BidingMyTime said:
I would chime in....but as Confettiflyer hinted at, the answer really is obvious. I will say, in most areas of the country, retail pays (IMO-others don't consider $10,000-$15,000/year more considerable) considerably more than hospital, CA is an exception due to the Kaiser union and labor laws.
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Not so much labor laws, but cost of living is the biggest driver. Many non-union hospitals pay more than Kaiser.

Pharmacist salary is straight up middle class when you're surrounded by techies funded by the VC spigot.

That and California inpatient pharmacy is, on the whole, more progressive and involved than many parts of the country. The only exception might be North Carolina. Even your rural/out of the way/critical access hospitals practice pharmacy like they're a tertiary/university affiliated medical center.

That's a blanket statement though, so take that with a grain of salt.
 
A theoretical advantage to hospital (I say theoretical because in 3 years I've only gotten a $3/hr raise, but this was the case in the past) is that there are usually larger raises, and pay is experience based. Vs retail where there are rarely pay discrepancies between fairly new pharmacists and more senior colleagues.

In the past it was not uncommon to have veterans making $10-15/hr more than new hires.
 
njac said:
A theoretical advantage to hospital (I say theoretical because in 3 years I've only gotten a $3/hr raise, but this was the case in the past) is that there are usually larger raises, and pay is experience based. Vs retail where there are rarely pay discrepancies between fairly new pharmacists and more senior colleagues.

In the past it was not uncommon to have veterans making $10-15/hr more than new hires.
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I have a PRN pharmacist who with 20+ years experience and is making $68/hr. He's telling me that at his main job they start newbies at at $48 and residency trained at about $52.
 
confettiflyer said:
That and California inpatient pharmacy is, on the whole, more progressive and involved than many parts of the country. The only exception might be North Carolina.
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New Mexico might be an exception too. Our hospital/ambulatory pharmacists (especially pharmacist clinicians) can do a lot and have better pay in many cases than retail pharmacists.
 
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PolarPop said:
New Mexico might be an exception too. Our hospital/ambulatory pharmacists (especially pharmacist clinicians) can do a lot and have better pay in many cases than retail pharmacists.
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You're right, forgot about NM!
 
Our hospital pay ranges from $47 to $68. The pay tends to go up pretty quickly. After 2 years, I'll have gone up $8/hr in payrate (some of this is step increases and some cost of living adjustments). If one started at the lowest pay rate ($47), it would take 15 years to get all the way to the top.

If one adds in the extra benefits such as no charge for healthcare/dental and pension plan the pay is actually higher than what it seems.

I have yet to find a hospital that combines great pay, great pension, and great vacation benefits (4 plus weeks to start) all in one package. If anyone knows of one, please chime in. Usually hospitals are strong in 2 areas, but not all 3. Kaiser, for example, has great pay and good retirement (was great, but they ditched the pension plan this year), but the vacation time is only middling (starts at 2 weeks and maxes at 4 weeks after 10 years). Some hospitals offer 6-8 weeks of vacation time, but they usually afford that by cutting back on salary.
 
confettiflyer said:
Not so much labor laws, but cost of living is the biggest driver. Many non-union hospitals pay more than Kaiser.
Pharmacist salary is straight up middle class when you're surrounded by techies funded by the VC spigot.
That and California inpatient pharmacy is, on the whole, more progressive and involved than many parts of the country. The only exception might be North Carolina. Even your rural/out of the way/critical access hospitals practice pharmacy like they're a tertiary/university affiliated medical center.
That's a blanket statement though, so take that with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...

I don't see what cost of living would have to do with hospital pharmacists making more than retail pharmacists, when the opposite is true in most areas of the country (I'd expect cost of living tends would raise the salary for everyone, with the ratio remaining the same.)

But, yes CA pharmacists being very progressive, I can see that accounting for higher salaries in hospitals.
 
BidingMyTime said:
I don't see what cost of living would have to do with hospital pharmacists making more than retail pharmacists, when the opposite is true in most areas of the country (I'd expect cost of living tends would raise the salary for everyone, with the ratio remaining the same.)

But, yes CA pharmacists being very progressive, I can see that accounting for higher salaries in hospitals.
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Whoops, reread your post, I misread. But Kaiser unions do cover outpatient pharmacies within in the Kaiser system, so technically the union shop would equally impact inpatient AND outpatient/retail salaries.

But it's weird, I can't imagine a world where retail pays more than hospital given the complexities I deal with on a day to day basis...but then I get it, it's like hazard pay for our retail brethren.
 
Sparda29 said:
What I'll never understand is how hospital techs and interns are paid more than retail techs and interns but hospital pharmacists are NOT paid more than retail pharmacists.
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1. Hospital techs are paid more because they have more responsibility - easier for them to mess up and a pharmacist not catching it. Think IV room. Also, there mistakes can cost a lot of money (think about messing up and sending some expensive inhaler multiple times to the floor, mixing and IV wrong, etc).

2. Hospital pharmacist make less because the job is more desirable than retail pharmacy. FYI- my hospital currently has an opening and had 60+ applicants, most of which were in retail, and thus had their resume not given a second look.
 
Dred Pirate said:
1. Hospital techs are paid more because they have more responsibility - easier for them to mess up and a pharmacist not catching it. Think IV room. Also, there mistakes can cost a lot of money (think about messing up and sending some expensive inhaler multiple times to the floor, mixing and IV wrong, etc).

2. Hospital pharmacist make less because the job is more desirable than retail pharmacy. FYI- my hospital currently has an opening and had 60+ applicants, most of which were in retail, and thus had their resume not given a second look.
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The funny thing about this is that...

1. Hospital technician jobs are more desirable. Higher pay, less stress from dealing with the public.
2. Hospital pharmacists have more responsibility - easier for them to make a mistake that can cost thousands or serious injury/death.

Yet the pay discrepancy remains.. except in California.
 
gwarm01 said:
The funny thing about this is that...

1. Hospital technician jobs are more desirable. Higher pay, less stress from dealing with the public.
2. Hospital pharmacists have more responsibility - easier for them to make a mistake that can cost thousands or serious injury/death.

Yet the pay discrepancy remains.. except in California.
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agreed -
but
1. - they are more desirable, but they are usually much more educated - what percentage of techs in retail have college degrees vs those in hospital?

2. Yup - we do, BUT there is no one to catch a retail pharmacist mistake - in hospital we have RN's, MD's etc that "have our back" - usually.
 
Probably a big reason for the discrepancy over all is that chain pharmacies have bigger reserves & aren't completely dependent on healthcare funding (they can more easily weather having a 6 - 8 month backlog on payments from the government).....so they can more easily afford to pay bigger salaries than hospital pharmacies can.
 
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WVUPharm2007 said:
I went from $43 an hour to $56/hour when I switched 3 and a half years ago from hospital to retail.
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That's a huge pay hike $13/hr. So am not going to ask if it was worth it. But how do you like your job now? Is this hike adequately compensating itself?
 
Newpharmacist said:
That's a huge pay hike $13/hr. So am not going to ask if it was worth it. But how do you like your job now? Is this hike adequately compensating itself?
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I like the job significantly more. Its less stressful, my boss doesn't yell at me every day for every amoeba-sized mistake I make, I have regular hours so I can plan my life, the patients are generally not that bad once they've gotten to know me. I literally have zero complaints.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
I went from $43 an hour to $56/hour when I switched 3 and a half years ago from hospital to retail.
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You forgot to mention you went from a super cheap location to something a little more pricey, so that accounts for some of the salary hike.
 
confettiflyer said:
You forgot to mention you went from a super cheap location to something a little more pricey, so that accounts for some of the salary hike.
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Not really. Montgomery County and Morgantown are pretty comparable as far as housing prices go. Property taxes are way steeper, but that's like $2,000 a year.
 
WVUPharm2007 said:
Not really. Montgomery County and Morgantown are pretty comparable as far as housing prices go. Property taxes are way steeper, but that's like $2,000 a year.
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Morgantown vs. MontCo, comparable? I believe you but don't believe you at the same time.
 
confettiflyer said:
Not so much labor laws, but cost of living is the biggest driver. Many non-union hospitals pay more than Kaiser.

Pharmacist salary is straight up middle class when you're surrounded by techies funded by the VC spigot.

That and California inpatient pharmacy is, on the whole, more progressive and involved than many parts of the country. The only exception might be North Carolina. Even your rural/out of the way/critical access hospitals practice pharmacy like they're a tertiary/university affiliated medical center.

That's a blanket statement though, so take that with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...

Can you expand on how hospital pharmacy is more progressive compared to most other areas of the country?

I see it mentioned frequently but I've never heard any details. Not doubting you just curious what CA laws allow hospital pharmacists to do that they wouldn't be able to do in other parts of the country.
 
bryanbishop2006 said:
Can you expand on how hospital pharmacy is more progressive compared to most other areas of the country?

I see it mentioned frequently but I've never heard any details. Not doubting you just curious what CA laws allow hospital pharmacists to do that they wouldn't be able to do in other parts of the country.
Click to expand...

Bump just as I'm still curious.....
 
bryanbishop2006 said:
Bump just as I'm still curious.....
Click to expand...

It's not the law but culture and the people involved.

SB 493 did help get things started legislatively, and pharmacist friendly policies like tech check tech free up pharmacists for clinical activities vs traditional product based practice.

Still thinking about how to answer the question better, stay tuned.
 
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