Olayinka Stephen Fadowole, PharmD
Olayinka Stephen Fadowole, PharmD
Pharmacy Manager
Walgreens
Olayinka “Stephen” Fadowole, PharmD, is a pharmacist with Walgreens. With over 10 years in the retail and health industry, he currently manages a Walgreens pharmacy in the South-side neighborhood of Chicago. Stephen has led some of the groundbreaking work for Walgreens to address health equity and vaccine hesitancy on the south side of Chicago. This includes conducting flu and COVID-immunization clinics in partnership with local community and health organizations. Determined to give back to the community that shaped him, he has successfully led various campaigns that have administered over 15,000 COVID-19 vaccines and over 10,000 COVID tests in his community. Stephen has also implemented several other initiatives to help develop better health outcomes for conditions that disproportionately affect residents in the South-side neighborhood. This includes a pediatric asthma education program to increase understanding of asthma treatments and improve adherence, as well as a diabetes education and adherence program. During the pandemic and racial equality movement in 2020, Stephen’s store quickly expedited medication delivery to at-risk patients who needed access to chronic and life-sustaining medications, which ensured strong medication adherence rates and sparked additional health equity initiatives in his store. As a result, his pharmacy has experienced increased engagement with patients at risk of missing or delaying pick of medications that improve health outcomes for chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Stephen graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Pharmacy. While at UIC, he was the first black president of the National Community Pharmacist Association NCPA. Stephen finds it incredibly motivating to use his passion for health equity to provide exemplary care to his patients that is both accessible and affordable. Stephen is an entrepreneur at heart and currently lives on the south side of Chicago with his wife and daughter.