Venita Papillion, M.D. started her career with an interest in science and graduated with a Bachelor’s in biology.  She furthered that interest in the sciences and healthcare and graduated with a doctorate in  pharmacy at Xavier University College of Pharmacy in New Orleans.  She completed a post grad-uate year residency at the VA Puget Sound in Seattle and worked as a clinical pharmacist until she was offered the opportunity to become a pharmacy clinical specialist at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma part of Franciscan Health, now part of CommonSpirit Health.

Dr. Papillion’s career led her back to New Orleans to join Tulane Hospital and Clinics as critical care specialist and solid organ transplant pharmacist.  She received several promotions and was pro-moted to director of pharmacy at several facilities in the same organization over the next years. Dr. Papillion accepted an offer to replace her mentor as the regional leader of clinical services for The Franciscans back in WA state.  She spent the next four years at the corporate office in Denver as the System Director of Pharmacy Clinical Services. 

Dr. Papillion expanded her operational experience in her role as the senior regional director of opera-tions in Phoenix, AZ.  She also completed a Master’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in healthcare. Dr. Papillion made the decision to rejoin CommonSpirit Health and has over twenty years of experience as a pharmacy leader and serves as the Vice President of Pharmacy for St. Luke’s Health in Houston, TX.