Mike Espel, RPh
For the past 46 years, Mike Espel has provided pharmaceutical care to the underserved of Southwest Ohio. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy in 1974, Mike served as a pharmacist and eventual Pharmacy Director for the Cincinnati Health Department for 32 years. St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) launched the Charitable Pharmacy in 2006, and Mike became the founding Pharmacy Director. The SVDP Charitable Pharmacy is dedicated to providing free pharmaceutical care to neighbors who otherwise could not afford their life-saving medications and helping its patients achieve strong health outcomes. The Charitable Pharmacy is the only stand-alone pharmacy in southwest Ohio that provides prescription medication at no charge.
Under Mike’s leadership, the Charitable Pharmacy has dispensed over 576,000 prescriptions valued at $75 million at no charge, innovated clinical programs that improve health outcomes and prevent healthcare costs, and trained over 500 pharmacists to provide underserved, outcomes-based pharmaceutical care. For his leadership, innovation and passion-driven work, Mike Espel has been recognized as a Health Care Hero by the Cincinnati Business Courier and as Ohio’s Community Connector by HealthPath.
This spring, Mike will retire after serving 15 years as the Director of the SVDP Charitable Pharmacy.
