Mark Donaldson recalled the day about two weeks before Christmas in 2001 when he was offered his job as director of pharmacy services for Kalispell Regional Healthcare.

He, his wife Lynnette and children Sam and Georgia were about to leave their home in Nelson, British Columbia, to drive to Whitefish to stay at Lynnette’s family’s cabin on Big Mountain for the holidays.

“We were in the car with the car running when the phone rang,” he said. “We were just going to leave then my wife said it’s from Montana. Maybe we should pick this up. That was sort of fortuitous.”

Since he and Lynnette started dating in pharmacy school at the University of British Columbia, the two had traveled in summer and ski seasons to stay at their Big Mountain cabin.

“We always talked about wouldn’t it be great to be able to recreate where you live,” Donaldson said. “I mean this has everything that we would like from a lifestyle perspective.”

While enjoying the family holiday in 2001, he finished up his talks with the hospital for his new job. At the time, Donaldson was not overly concerned about the requirement of obtaining a state license since that usually means passing just the exams on pharmacy-related laws that differ among the states.

“As we looked into it a little further, the state of Montana required that I would have to write (take) the national board exams,” he said. “They’re pretty rigorous and involved a significant amount of study. It does make you pause.”

His wife, also a pharmacist, decided she would study with him and sit for the test even though she has taken a hiatus from her career to concentrate on their children. The two studied for a few months, then took the computer-adapted test in Helena.

“I think it is a credit to the Canadian system that both of us scored some of the highest marks that they had seen,” he said.

Although he was born in Dundee, Scotland, Donaldson immigrated with his father, an oral surgeon, mother and siblings to Vancouver, British Columbia, when he was just 3. His father had accepted a job to start a new dental college in 1971.

When he started school, Donaldson’s thick Scottish brogue quickly dissipated. During five or six trips to back Scotland to visit relatives, he has found that his brain retains that thick accent his folks never lost.

“A few pints of beer, a glass of Scotch and it comes back,” he said with a laugh.

As he advanced through the Canadian school system and started at the University of British Columbia, Donaldson followed his father’s advice to get a good grounding in pharmacology as a first step toward medicine, veterinary science or dentistry. At that time pharmacology required just a baccalaureate degree but was moving toward a doctoral degree.

Donaldson, who was leaning toward pursuing medical school, finished up his five-year pharmacy studies, but felt he still had more to learn. He applied and was accepted as one of 22 students into a clinical residency at Vancouver General Hospital.

“You work 18-hour days, 7 days a week, for a year. They only pay you half wages,“ he said. “It’s an incredible learning experience and really will solidify what you picked up in school.”

During the residency, Donaldson made rounds as the pharmacy specialist with a senior medical overseer, medical students and interns.

“The staff man presents the case, describes what the issues are from a medical standpoint, quizzes the students and interns, then looks to the pharmacist and asks the same kind of things,” he recalled. “It’s nerve-wracking because you are entirely out of your comfort zone.”

Donaldson said looking right at the patient brings home the seriousness of making the right decision. He said pharmacists have to consider that even the right thing that day may not be right for that patient.

“We try to make things as simple as possible,” he said. “Our job is to give the right drug, at the right dose, to the right patient, at the right time, for the right procedure.”

He still recommends a clinical residency to college students who make four-week beginning or eight-week advanced pharmacy practice rotations with his department. His was pivotal to solidifying his training and energizing his enthusiasm for the hospital-associated pharmacy.

During his residency, Donaldson said he talked to quite a few doctors who weren’t enjoying their field as much as he was, helping him to decide he would stick with it.

“One of my friends said ‘when you are in pharmacy you can get married to someone and build that life, but if you’re in medicine you’re married to your work.”

Following his residency, he married Lynnette and worked several jobs leading up to 1998 when he enrolled in a Doctoral of Pharmacy program at the University of Washington. Donaldson continued working full time until finishing his doctorate in June 2001.

“When I completed my degree from the University of Washington, it created an opportunity not to just look for work in Canada but also look for work throughout the United States,” he said.

Since receiving that welcomed phone 11 years ago , Donaldson, now 44, has witnessed an amazing amount of growth. He recalled interviewing in a single-wide trailer where the administration relocated during major renovations.

“That was the first year I was here; we did our initial tower,” he said.

HealthCenter Northwest opened and the campus has continued to grow with many new programs, a retail pharmacy and the $42 million surgical tower expansion.

With a full speaking and training schedule, Donaldson travels extensively and never tires of amazing other pharmacy directors with the innovations at this community hospital in Kalispell. This includes the program created with Flathead Valley Community College to fill the gap in nationally certified pharmacy technicians here.

“This is our sixth year,” Donaldson said. “Every graduate has always been fully employed afterward.”

Also under his watch, the hospital joined forces with 34 hospitals in the Rocky Mountain states to use their knowledge of drugs to streamline inventories and use their buying power to reduce pharmacy costs dramatically. Their combined savings exceed $5.6 million.

“Not only does the medical evidence suggest this is better for our patients, but we can also save a lot of money and save the patient a lot of money,” he said.

As a professional who has worked in both the Canadian and U.S health-care systems, Donaldson has a unique perspective on upcoming medical reforms here. Still a Canadian citizen who works with a green card, he said he has “no horse in the race” as he can’t vote.

“I do believe that America is going in the right direction,” he said.

Donaldson said moving toward universal coverage makes sense because you don’t want your populace to think they can’t go to the hospital when sick because they can’t afford it.

He said the government’s promotion of meaningful use and accountable care organizations has a goal of making hospitals leaner, fitter and more efficient while providing excellent care.

“I don’t think those two have to be mutually exclusive. I think you can provide excellent care efficiently,” he said. “We’ve done a remarkable job of it here in Kalispell.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.