Pharmacy

Tj Lee is Pharmacy Manager at MAHEC Community Pharmacy at Enka/Candler. He has over 20 years’ experience in pharmacy beginning as a Pharmacy Specialist in the United States Army 47th Field Hospital and has since gained a wide range of skills from clinical pharmacy roles, behavioral health, home infusion, and oncology specialties. He has a passion for helping rural patients and is a strong patient advocate who enjoys working as a team to provide the best healthcare to every single individual.

In his free time, he enjoys traveling WNC with his son to skateboard, bike ride, and paddleboard.

Matthew Ransom, PharmD, MPH, CPP, 340B ACE, is Chair of the Department of Pharmacy at MAHEC and also serves as the Director of MAHEC’s 340B Pharmacy Services. Matt joined MAHEC in July 2021 and established the 340B program in coordination with the organization becoming a Community Health Center. He coordinated a network of contract pharmacy relationships that provide medication for MAHEC patients and contribute to the development and sustainability of medication assistance programs delivered through MAHEC’s two community pharmacies, at Biltmore and Enka/Candler. He opened the community pharmacies for retail operations in 2023. The success of these pharmacies contributes to MAHEC’s mission of improving the health of all patients in our region.

Prior to MAHEC, Matt worked at Mission Health for 14 years in the Mission Medication Assistance Program, Outpatient Clinical Pharmacy Services, and helped patients manage chronic disease as part of the Asheville Project. At Mission, Matt was recognized nationally for innovative leadership in establishing a pharmacy technician-led transitions of care program for low-income, uninsured patients discharging from the hospital. He enjoys teaching and learning with students, residents, and colleagues and started the PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency program at Mission in collaboration with UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Matt is trained as a 340B Apexus Certified Expert (ACE). He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy (2007) and a Master of Public Health from UNC Gillings School of Public Health (2020). He is a Certified Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) in North Carolina and completed a PGY1 Residency in Ambulatory Care at Mission/MAHEC (2008). Matt’s other interests include landscaping, traveling with his family, and exploring trails and forests in Western North Carolina.

Matthew Ransom, PharmD, MPH, CPP, 340B ACE, is Chair of the Department of Pharmacy at MAHEC and also serves as the Director of MAHEC’s 340B Pharmacy Services. Matt joined MAHEC in July 2021 and established the 340B program in coordination with the organization becoming a Community Health Center. He coordinated a network of contract pharmacy relationships that provide medication for MAHEC patients and contribute to the development and sustainability of medication assistance programs delivered through MAHEC’s two community pharmacies, at Biltmore and Enka/Candler. He opened the community pharmacies for retail operations in 2023. The success of these pharmacies contributes to MAHEC’s mission of improving the health of all patients in our region.

Prior to MAHEC, Matt worked at Mission Health for 14 years in the Mission Medication Assistance Program, Outpatient Clinical Pharmacy Services, and helped patients manage chronic disease as part of the Asheville Project. At Mission, Matt was recognized nationally for innovative leadership in establishing a pharmacy technician-led transitions of care program for low-income, uninsured patients discharging from the hospital. He enjoys teaching and learning with students, residents, and colleagues and started the PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency program at Mission in collaboration with UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Matt is trained as a 340B Apexus Certified Expert (ACE). He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy (2007) and a Master of Public Health from UNC Gillings School of Public Health (2020). He is a Certified Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) in North Carolina and completed a PGY1 Residency in Ambulatory Care at Mission/MAHEC (2008). Matt’s other interests include landscaping, traveling with his family, and exploring trails and forests in Western North Carolina.

Dr. Wilcox is the Pharmacy Manager for MAHEC Community Pharmacy at Enka/Candler. She earned her undergraduate degree at UNC Charlotte and her PharmD from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy in Asheville, NC, in 2021. Dr. Wilcox completed her PGY1 residency with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Walgreens. Prior to starting her current position with MAHEC, she served as a community pharmacist for Walgreens in Buncombe and surrounding counties.

Dr. Wilcox is involved in the precepting of pharmacy learners, including MAHEC residents and students from UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her store also serves as a practice site for the Rural Health Scholars Program through UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Her areas of interest include creating clinical services for our community pharmacies, patient access, diabetes education, immunizations, public health, and substance use disorder.

Claire Austin is one of the clinical pharmacists at MAHEC dedicating her time to our Ob/Gyn and Family Medicine clinics. At Ob/Gyn, she serves as an educator for patients and providers on diabetes in pregnancy, diabetes technology, and the safety of medications in pregnancy and breast/chest feeding. In Family Medicine, she works with patients to help them understand and manage their chronic medical conditions. Claire completed her undergraduate training at UNC-Chapel Hill and attended pharmacy school at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Asheville Campus.

Anne “Andy” Warren grew up in rural South Boston, VA. She received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in Animal and Poultry Sciences and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She went on to complete the ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency with Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia and the ASHP-accredited Ambulatory Care PGY2 residency at MAHEC. During her first five years as faculty with MAHEC, Andy split her time between the inpatient Family Practice Service at Mission and the clinic at MAHEC Family Health Center. She currently serves as the PGY1 Residency Program Director and a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner for the Biltmore and Newbridge clinics. Her areas of interest include transitions of care, collaborative interdisciplinary practice, diabetes management, and population health. She and her husband met during her PGY2 year and now have a young son, an extremely sweet doodle dog, and a fixer-upper first home! Outside of work, Andy enjoys riding her horse, Triple Down, spending time with family/friends, traveling, running/hiking, and anything Disney.

Olivia Caron is a clinical pharmacist at MAHEC who works with chronic disease management including substance use, hepatitis C, diabetes, and more. She strives to provide comprehensive and compassionate care to all her patients and loves working with the Spanish-speaking community as she speaks both Spanish and French. She also serves as Project CARA’s Director of Research. Olivia was born and raised in Northern Virginia as the youngest of four kids born to Belgian parents. She studied chemical engineering and Spanish at Virginia Tech and then attended Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy where she graduated with her Certificate of Aging and Doctorate of Pharmacy.

Bill Hitch is the Vice Chair of Pharmacy at MAHEC in Asheville, NC, and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Education at the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He received his PharmD degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelmen School of Pharmacy and completed a specialty residency in Ambulatory Care through Mission Hospital and MAHEC. Bill serves as the Assistant Director of the Pharmacy Practice Residency Program at Mission Hospital practicing in the Ambulatory Care setting and serves as a preceptor for pharmacy students as well as PGY1 and PGY2 residents. His practice is in inpatient family medicine where he rounds with physicians on the Family Practice Service at Mission Hospital. He is a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner at MAHEC Family Health Center, which has been recognized as a Level III Patient-Centered Medical Home. Areas of interest include interdisciplinary education, transitions of care, infectious disease, and global health.

Matthew Ransom, PharmD, MPH, CPP, 340B ACE, is Chair of the Department of Pharmacy at MAHEC and also serves as the Director of MAHEC’s 340B Pharmacy Services. Matt joined MAHEC in July 2021 and established the 340B program in coordination with the organization becoming a Community Health Center. He coordinated a network of contract pharmacy relationships that provide medication for MAHEC patients and contribute to the development and sustainability of medication assistance programs delivered through MAHEC’s two community pharmacies, at Biltmore and Enka/Candler. He opened the community pharmacies for retail operations in 2023. The success of these pharmacies contributes to MAHEC’s mission of improving the health of all patients in our region.

Prior to MAHEC, Matt worked at Mission Health for 14 years in the Mission Medication Assistance Program, Outpatient Clinical Pharmacy Services, and helped patients manage chronic disease as part of the Asheville Project. At Mission, Matt was recognized nationally for innovative leadership in establishing a pharmacy technician-led transitions of care program for low-income, uninsured patients discharging from the hospital. He enjoys teaching and learning with students, residents, and colleagues and started the PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency program at Mission in collaboration with UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

Matt is trained as a 340B Apexus Certified Expert (ACE). He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy (2007) and a Master of Public Health from UNC Gillings School of Public Health (2020). He is a Certified Pharmacy Practitioner (CPP) in North Carolina and completed a PGY1 Residency in Ambulatory Care at Mission/MAHEC (2008). Matt’s other interests include landscaping, traveling with his family, and exploring trails and forests in Western North Carolina.

Dr. Mollie Scott is the Regional Associate Dean and a Professor at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Asheville Campus. She serves as the preceptor for the Academic Leadership experience for the PGY2 ambulatory care residency program. She is a graduate of Meredith College and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and was the inaugural resident in the Specialized Pharmacy Residency in Geriatrics at the Durham VAMC. Mollie currently serves as Director-at-Large for the ASHP Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners Executive Committee. Her clinical interests include osteoporosis and women’s health, and she is a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner at MAHEC Family Health Center.

Pharmacy School: UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
Residency Program: UNC Medical Center (PGY1 Pharmacy and PGY2 Ambulatory Care)
Board Certification: Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS)

Dr. Steedman is a Clinical Pharmacist with the MAHEC Family Health Center at Enka/Candler. When not spending time in the clinic, she rotates on the inpatient MAHEC Family Practice Service teaching service at Mission Hospital and also sees Family Medicine patients engaged in office-based opioid use disorder treatment at the Biltmore campus. Dr. Steedman's current practice in both inpatient and outpatient settings emphasizes her focus on transitions of care and longitudinal disease management with enhanced continuity of care. She is also dedicated to the advancement of academic learning for new generations of medical professionals, as her work involves training pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and Family Medicine residents. Her main areas of professional interest include the management of diabetes, hypertension, asthma/COPD, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, anticoagulation, and substance use disorders.

Anne “Andy” Warren grew up in rural South Boston, VA. She received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in Animal and Poultry Sciences and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She went on to complete the ASHP-accredited PGY1 residency with Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia and the ASHP-accredited Ambulatory Care PGY2 residency at MAHEC. During her first five years as faculty with MAHEC, Andy split her time between the inpatient Family Practice Service at Mission and the clinic at MAHEC Family Health Center. She currently serves as the PGY1 Residency Program Director and a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner for the Biltmore and Newbridge clinics. Her areas of interest include transitions of care, collaborative interdisciplinary practice, diabetes management, and population health. She and her husband met during her PGY2 year and now have a young son, an extremely sweet doodle dog, and a fixer-upper first home! Outside of work, Andy enjoys riding her horse, Triple Down, spending time with family/friends, traveling, running/hiking, and anything Disney.

Emma Williams is a Board-Certified Geriatric Clinical Pharmacist and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Education at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She is originally from Columbus, OH, and graduated from Northwestern University before attending UNC-Chapel Hill for pharmacy school. After graduating in 2020, she completed two years of residency training in ambulatory care and geriatric pharmacy at MAHEC. She works with patients in a variety of settings including primary care clinics at Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) and home visits throughout Buncombe County. She also helps to train pharmacy students and residents through didactic teaching and precepting. Her clinical interests include diabetes management, deprescribing, interdisciplinary care, and pharmacy student education. Outside of pharmacy, Emma enjoys traveling, live music, reading, and spending time with her family, her husband, and their boxer, Margie.

Tasha Woodall graduated with her PharmD from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, in 2011. She moved to Asheville to complete her residency in ambulatory care with Mission Health and MAHEC and started as faculty at MAHEC in 2012. She serves as Co-Director of MAHEC’s Center for Healthy Aging and program director for a PGY2 specialty residency in geriatrics. She is an Associate Professor of Clinical Education for UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and a Clinical Associate Professor for UNC School of Medicine. Tasha is a Board-Certified Geriatric Pharmacist and has served on the Board of Directors for the Council on Aging of Buncombe County and the Public Policy Committee for the American Geriatrics Society as well as chaired the Chronic Care Practice Forum for the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. Outside of work, Tasha enjoys hiking and camping with her husband, dog, and two kids and enjoying all the great food and live music that Asheville has to offer.

Deirdre Kaan is originally from East Lyme, CT, but grew up in Lancaster, PA. She attended Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, for both undergraduate and pharmacy school. She then completed a PGY1 residency in community and ambulatory care with ACME and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and a PGY2 residency in ambulatory care with Mission Hospital. Deirdre joined the MAHEC Internal Medicine and Endocrinology team in July of 2023. She was drawn to MAHEC because she enjoys working with underserved patient populations and helping to connect them to resources. She is passionate about diabetes management, heart failure management, anticoagulation, and medication access. In her free time, Deirdre enjoys sewing, playing video games, roller-skating, and spending time with her cats.

Casey Wells' passion for helping to manage chronic conditions for vulnerable patient populations began with foundational experiences at a small-town community pharmacy and an Internal Medicine Clinic. She completed two years of pharmacy residency at MAHEC focused on serving rural and underserved patients in Western North Carolina. Currently, Casey works in the MAHEC Internal Medicine and Endocrinology clinic with a primary focus on diabetes and technology. She serves as a preceptor for pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, and internal medicine medical residents. Beyond pharmacy, Casey enjoys volleyball, running, hiking, and traveling.

Claire Austin is one of the clinical pharmacists at MAHEC dedicating her time to our Ob/Gyn and Family Medicine clinics. At Ob/Gyn, she serves as an educator for patients and providers on diabetes in pregnancy, diabetes technology, and the safety of medications in pregnancy and breast/chest feeding. In Family Medicine, she works with patients to help them understand and manage their chronic medical conditions. Claire completed her undergraduate training at UNC-Chapel Hill and attended pharmacy school at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Asheville Campus.

Olivia Caron is a clinical pharmacist at MAHEC who works with chronic disease management including substance use, hepatitis C, diabetes, and more. She strives to provide comprehensive and compassionate care to all her patients and loves working with the Spanish-speaking community as she speaks both Spanish and French. She also serves as Project CARA’s Director of Research. Olivia was born and raised in Northern Virginia as the youngest of four kids born to Belgian parents. She studied chemical engineering and Spanish at Virginia Tech and then attended Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy where she graduated with her Certificate of Aging and Doctorate of Pharmacy.

Payton Ammons was born in Asheville, NC, and spent roughly ten years working in community/retail pharmacy as a senior pharmacy technician and pharmacy operations manager before coming to MAHEC in April 2023. She spends most of her time assisting with medication access and helping patients navigate any barriers they may have to acquiring their medications. She genuinely enjoys helping people and working for an organization that prioritizes patient care and well-being. Outside of work, Payton loves to travel, learn about history, binge-watch a good show, spend money, swim, and garden.

Bryce Mazur primarily serves as the lead Pharmacy Technician at the MAHEC Community Pharmacy at Enka/Candler. He also assists the MAHEC Community Pharmacy at Biltmore a few days per week, helps our refill technician process refills, and occasionally assists with medication access. Before MAHEC, Bryce worked in retail pharmacy at Walgreens for 10 years, in a variety of settings from compounding sites to infertility clinics, conversion stores, and vaccine clinics among many other tasks.

Julia Pickering is originally from Sneedville, TN. Her parents divorced when she was nine and she moved around quite a bit when she was younger. When she was twelve, her family settled in Greeneville, TN, and she has lived there ever since. Julia got married at seventeen, gave birth to her oldest son at eighteen, and had two more sons at twenty and twenty-four. They are the joy of her life. She has been married to her husband for twenty-seven years and was recently blessed with a granddaughter. Julia studied art history education in college and then decided to be a stay-at-home mom, which was the best decision she ever made. She fell into doing pharmacy because she was interested in doing something part-time, so she started as a cashier and then decided to be a technician. After passing the test, Julia became the lead technician at the independent where she worked. After five years as an independent, she moved on to Walmart and later came to MAHEC in August 2022. Outside of work, Julia enjoys gardening and taking care of her family's animals. Currently, they have three dogs, four cats, two goats, four rabbits, two geese, three ducks, and several chickens. Laura Bailey frequently refers to Julia's house as a 'petting zoo' and she is not wrong. Julia is very blessed to have the life she does and thanks God every day.

Grace works as a pharmacy technician in the community pharmacy, where she enjoys helping patients with their medications. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy on the Asheville campus. She is also part of the Rural Health Scholars Program, which focuses on improving access to care in rural communities. Originally from Wilkesboro, NC, Grace completed her undergraduate studies in English and Comparative Literature at UNC Chapel Hill. Outside of work and school, she enjoys hiking to waterfalls, baking, and playing guitar.