Will Carroll, Pharm.D., on giving pharmacy a seat at the table

Will Carroll, Pharm.D., vice president and chief pharmacy officer at Sutter Health, will moderate a keynote panel at the 2026 Health System Executive Summit in San Francisco this October.

In this video, Carroll discusses his priorities as Sutter Health's chief pharmacy officer and what he hopes to bring back from the summit's conversations.

Carroll leads system-wide pharmacy services across Sutter Health, one of California's largest and most comprehensive health systems, spanning inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory and specialty pharmacy. Since arriving, he has centered his strategy on three areas: expanding access and affordability, standardizing and centralizing care across locations and modernizing pharmacy operations through data, automation and artificial intelligence.

Leadership diversity is central to that strategy, Carroll said. Building a high-performing organization “starts with fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging,” where people with different backgrounds and experiences feel valued and empowered to contribute, he said. Cultivating that pipeline within pharmacy, he added, “means we have to create an environment where every individual has the opportunity to grow, lead, and bring their unique perspectives to the table.”

Carroll also pointed to how pharmacy leaders can build stronger relationships with health system executives. Understanding the priorities facing a CEO and other senior leaders allows pharmacy to be positioned as a strategic partner rather than solely a medication-management function, he said. His guidance to other chief pharmacy officers seeking a greater voice in the C-suite: “lead with a patient-centered perspective, listening first and speaking up in ways that advance the organization’s strategic priorities.”

Specialty pharmacy is another growth area for Sutter Health, according to Carroll. As specialty medications grow more complex and costly, he said the goal is “delivering exceptional patient outcomes while also creating sustainable value for the health system” by tightly integrating specialty pharmacy into the broader care continuum, including clinical support, patient education and care coordination.