This blog post is part of a series titled Taking the Lead: An Inside Look at Eskenazi Health's Leadership. Different leaders throughout Eskenazi Health will be featured, giving an inside look at their work roles, backgrounds, passions and even hobbies. We hope you enjoy learning about some of the exceptional leaders Eskenazi Health is proud to employ.

Chris Wickesberg has been a member of Eskenazi Health his entire professional career. In his current role as the director of pharmacy, Wickesberg has oversight of all Eskenazi Health pharmacy services including the Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital inpatient pharmacy, the 10 retail pharmacies in the Eskenazi Health community health centers throughout Marion County and clinical pharmacy services.

Wickesberg has been with Eskenazi Health since 2003, shortly after he graduated from the Purdue University College of Pharmacy. He began as an inpatient pharmacist and through the last 15 years has held roles such as clinical pharmacy specialist and inpatient pharmacy manager.

As the director of pharmacy, Wickesberg knows that no two days are alike. He works with the pharmacy leadership team and frontline staff to ensure that medications are used safely and appropriately within the organization. He enjoys his work with his team to solve complex problems and to operationalize change. He also loves how in this role he is able to take on this meaningful work that allows him to deeply understand the issues that face his teams and the patients they serve. This includes what he considers his greatest contribution to Eskenazi Health to date, when as the inpatient pharmacy manager, he helped facilitate the move into the new Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital in the winter of 2013.

Outside of his role as director of pharmacy, Wickesberg loves to stay healthy and active. He has become an avid trail runner, and he can often be found at Eagle Creek Park running the trails in the early morning hours, contemplating different ideas on how to improve the hospital. He also loves competing in running races of almost every distance; from 5k to marathon and even possibly someday, an ultramarathon. Wickesberg is also an avid reader who enjoys international literature. He and his wife are also parents to three wonderful children who keep them both very busy.

While already very active, Wickesberg stays involved in several professional organizations as well. He is a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Vizient Pharmacy Network and the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety.

Wickesberg hopes to be remembered as someone who truly cared about and believed in the work and activities he was a part of.