HDMA Recognizes Mutual Drug Company’s Hal Harrison with Distribution Management Award for Industry Leadership

Presented at the Association's Distribution Management Conference and Expo in San Antonio, Texas, the award recognizes an individual who has exhibited the highest standards of honesty and integrity, working to enhance industry relations and knowledge, as well as supply chain efficiency and security. Harrison was selected by the distributor and manufacturer member executives of HDMA's Industry Relations Council.

"Hal has not only been a longtime supporter of HDMA, but a respected industry leader who has promoted the importance of building partnerships with his supply chain colleagues," said HDMA President and CEO John M. Gray, "We are pleased to recognize his many contributions to the healthcare distribution industry."

Harrison's 35-year career began at AmeriSource Corporation, where he served in positions including Pharmaceutical Buyer for Geer Drug Company to Director of Purchasing in both Charleston, S.C. and Chattanooga, Tenn. As AmeriSource's Corporate Director of Forecast Management, Harrison was responsible for consolidating investment purchasing across all of the company's divisions.

Joining Mutual Drug Company in 2000 as Director of Purchasing, Harrison had managerial responsibility for purchasing more than 25,000 items and an inventory of $70 million. Now serving as Senior Vice President of Operations, he oversees the Finance, Warehouse, Purchasing and Information Systems departments within the company. He also serves as Vice President of Carolina Allied Pharmaceutical Services (CAPS), the company's generic program and buying group.

In December 2015, Harrison was named the next CEO of Mutual Drug Company, succeeding David S. Moody, Jr., who will retire on March 31. (Mr. Moody was the 2014 recipient of the Nexus Award for Lifetime Achievement, presented by HDMA's Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research.)

Harrison is an active participant in HDMA's conferences and voluntary committees. Most notably, he is the current Co-Chair of the Industry Relations Council, and serves as a member of the Association's Health, Beauty and Wellness Committee and Emergency Preparedness and Influenza Task Force. He also serves as the Chairman of Wholesaler/Alliance/Pharmacy First/Third Party Station's Board of Directors, and is a past member of the Chain Drug Marketing Association Board of Directors.

"Hal always delivers the highest level of service to his customers, and he challenges every person and company he collaborates with to do the same," said Mike McBride, Vice President, Partner Relations at Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc., who has worked with Harrison in the various roles he's held with HDMA's Industry Relations Council and at Mutual Drug Company. "Hal's deep knowledge of his customers and the industry, coupled with the integrity that he displays in his business relationships, place him among the leaders deserving this recognition from HDMA."

Recent Distribution Management Award for Industry Leadership winners include Stephen Seid, formerly with Purdue Pharma, L.P.; Elizabeth A. Gallenagh, Esq., HDMA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel; and Neil Warren, formerly with Cardinal Health, Inc.