A conversation about access and affordability with Will Carroll, chief pharmacy officer at Sutter Health

Nearly a year into his role as chief pharmacy officer at Sutter Health, Will Carroll reflects on the strategic planning that has shaped his tenure, organized around access and affordability, standardization and centralization, and modernization and innovation. He shares how the pharmacy team cultivates future leaders through mentorship and advancement opportunities and advises peers to listen first and align with broader organizational goals to gain influence at the executive level. Carroll also explains Sutter Health’s approach to specialty pharmacy, which emphasizes clinical support, education and care coordination for patients on complex therapies.

Carroll is set to speak tomorrow at Manage Healthcare Executive’s Health System Executive Summit in San Francisco. His session is titled, ‘Change Management in a Challenging Time.’

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

MHE: To begin, would you briefly introduce yourself and provide an overview of your role at Sutter Health?

Carroll: I joined Sutter Health in November 2025 as the Chief Pharmacy Officer.

And in this role, I lead system-wide efforts to create a seamless and integrated experience for patients that require complex medication therapies.

My primary responsibilities include really advancing quality of performance through a service line model that spans really the inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory, and specialty pharmacy services across our health system, which happens to be one of California's largest and most comprehensive health systems.

MHE: The role of today’s chief pharmacy officer has expanded significantly in both scope and complexity. As you prepare to join the Health Executive Summit community, could you share some of the key changes you have implemented at Sutter Health?

Carroll: Here at Sutter Health, we're really focused on a journey to becoming the most comprehensive, integrated, and connected health system.

Our goal is really to make it easier for patients to access the care and the medications they need by meeting them where they are throughout their healthcare journey.

Since I arrived, we've really focused on our strategic planning, and there are three domains that were a focus.

The first one is access and affordability. We're looking to expand convenient and timely access to medications while addressing the cost of care and ensuring that patients can both obtain and afford the therapies they need.

The second one is standardization and centralization, which is about delivering consistent high-quality care no matter where you go across our health system. We want to ensure that locations are harmonized with clinical and operational practices and leverage the scale and efficiencies of centralized capabilities where possible.

Last but not least, the third area is modernization and innovation. We're looking at how to advance care delivery through strategic use of digital technologies, data, automation and artificial intelligence to improve effectiveness, efficiency and most importantly, patient outcomes.

MHE: As you finish your first year as CPO of Sutter Health, what steps are the most important for building a strong and inclusive leadership pipeline?

Carroll: We believe in building a high-performing organization, and it starts with fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging, where people with different experiences, perspectives and backgrounds feel valued, respected and empowered to contribute. When people truly feel like they belong, they're more engaged, collaboration's stronger, and our patients are better equipped to serve our communities. Inclusion and belonging really goes beyond representation.

It means we have to create an environment where every individual has the opportunity to grow, lead, and bring their unique perspectives to the table, and this includes differences in their professional experiences, generations, cultures, faith, life experiences, and ways of thinking.

Within pharmacy, we're intentional about cultivating that culture through mentorship, leadership development and meaningful opportunities for advancement. We want every team member to feel like they have a voice and a path for growth and the support they need to succeed.

Lastly, I'll say that building an inclusive leadership pipeline is an ongoing commitment, and by fostering inclusion and belonging, encouraging diverse perspectives, and investing in our people, we strengthen our teams, we inspire innovation, and ultimately deliver better care for the patients and communities we serve.

MHE: In our previous conversations, you’ve noted that the CPO at Sutter Health works closely with the CEO and other senior executives. What advice would you offer to other pharmacy leaders seeking a stronger voice at the executive table?

Carroll: Pharmacy has an opportunity to contribute in a significant way across the enterprise. By understanding the priorities and challenges facing the CEO and the other senior leaders, we can position pharmacy as a strategic partner that helps solve organizational challenges. When we consistently demonstrate that value, our role extends well beyond safe and effective medication management, and we earn a stronger voice at the executive table. My guidance really is to lead with a patient-centered perspective, listening first and speaking up in ways that advance the organization's strategic priorities. The success requires looking beyond what's important to pharmacy alone and ensuring our work is aligned with the broader goals of the health system.

MHE: Specialty pharmacy can be a critical driver of both clinical and financial performance within a health system. What is your vision for specialty pharmacy at Sutter Health?

Carroll: Our vision for specialty pharmacy is really simple. It's about delivering exceptional patient outcomes while also creating sustainable value for the health system.

As specialty medications continue to come to the market and become more complex and costly, we have an opportunity to surround our patients with the clinical support, education and care coordination that they need to succeed. By tightly integrating our specialty pharmacy into the care continuum, we can improve access, medication adherence and most importantly, outcomes while strengthening our ability to really serve more patients in the future.

We're deliberately investing in the people, process, and infrastructure necessary to support that rapid and continued growth to position Sutter Health as a player in specialty pharmacy for many years to come.

MHE: As you look ahead to your first Health System Executive Summit, what about this gathering stood out to you, and what do you hope to take back to Sutter Health?

Carroll: I'm always happy to attend events that bring together a diverse group of attendees. I find it incredibly valuable to hear different perspectives, as they often spark new ideas and approaches. To solve today's complex healthcare challenges, it really requires learning from one another, and I'm looking forward to bringing those insights and connections back to Sutter Health.