How One Central Pharmacy Packages Up to 35,500 Medication Doses Monthly for 13 Healthcare Locations

A central pharmacy that packages medications for an entire health system has little room for delay. Doses need to be packaged, labeled, and ready for the locations that depend on them, and the operation has to do that without duplicating staff and equipment at every site. Since 2011, the RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center’s central pharmacy has met that demand with in-house unit-dose packaging from Medical Packaging Inc., LLC (MPI). Today it serves 13 RWJBarnabas Health locations from one shared operation.

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By the Numbers

• 35,500 unit doses packaged monthly
• 13 healthcare locations supported
• 2 dedicated packaging technicians
• Same or Next-day medication fulfillment
• 15+ years of partnership with MPI

The Operation

The central pharmacy consolidates selected hospital pharmacy activities for the RWJ Barnabas healthcare system, including unit-dose packaging, repackaging, and parenteral barcoding and labeling. It runs three MPI Auto-Print oral solid unit-dose packagers and three MPI Fluidose oral liquid unit-dose cup packagers, producing roughly 29,000 to 30,000 oral solid doses and 5,000 to 5,500 oral liquid doses each month. Hundreds of different medications move through the equipment. Two dedicated packaging technicians run the line on weekdays, with cross-trained staff ready to step in as needed.

Francisco Vila, the pharmacy director, frames the goal plainly:

“The main driver at a nonprofit hospital system is doing the most we can with the least possible resources.”
— Francisco Vila, Pharmacy Director, RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center

Faster Turnaround and More Control

Producing doses in-house lets the pharmacy fill orders on its own timeline. It provides next-day turnaround and, for urgent cases, immediate fulfillment, against outsourced packaging that can take weeks. In-house production also reduces reliance on wholesaler-supplied unit doses and addresses barcode availability within the pharmacy’s own workflow. Most medications are repackaged centrally, while outsourced products go directly to individual sites, so in-house packaging works as a flexible internal capability rather than a mandate to replace every outside product.

Lower Costs Through Shared Resources

Vila points to cost savings as one of MPI’s most important contributions, alongside reliability and support. Central repackaging generally costs less than buying outsourced unit doses, and serving every location from one operation removes the need to duplicate equipment and labor across the system. The approach also cuts waste.

“The savings are there since you won’t need all the equipment in each of the facilities.”
— Francisco Vila, Pharmacy Director, RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center

One Standard Across a Growing System

Growth through acquisitions had left facilities with their own workflows. Centralizing repackaging gave RWJBarnabas Health a way to set one standard across the system, which reduced workflow deviation, supported patient safety, and improved integration with downstream equipment. MPI’s Pak-EDGE software supports that process.

“It feels purpose-built for what it’s doing. It’s efficient… we see how the workflow processes are set up from a safety perspective.”
— Francisco Vila, Pharmacy Director, RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center

Support That Has Held Since 2011

Equipment is only part of the reason the relationship has lasted. Vila describes MPI as responsive, able to meet the pharmacy’s needs, and local enough to dispatch service technicians quickly. The technicians who visit are a consistent high point.

“It is very clear that they are skilled, and they know what they’re talking about.”
— Francisco Vila, Pharmacy Director, RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center

The pharmacy periodically reviews the repackaging market for new providers and comparable options. The result has not changed.

“And every time we’ve done that since 2011, MPI has come out on top!”
— Francisco Vila, Pharmacy Director, RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center

The Results

The central pharmacy packages tens of thousands of doses a month for 13 locations, fills urgent orders the same day, and runs on one standardized workflow. It has done that while expanding into centralized code-cart work, sterile-product batching, and hazardous nonsterile repackaging, with a newly acquired hospital expected to add more volume. MPI equipment and software have remained part of the operation as it has grown.

“We’ve been with MPI since 2011 and haven’t left for a reason!”
— Francisco Vila, Pharmacy Director, RWJBarnabas Health Infusion Center