Hometown Heroes

For 16 years as a clinical pharmacist in the military, Lt. Col. Gwendolyn Thompson has been shaping policy and positively affecting patients.
Thompson, from Eunice, is chief of the Department of Pharmacy at Fort Hood, Texas, and has worked home and abroad, including a deployment at the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad.
Her experience in Iraq has helped her treat returning soldiers, because she understands their experiences and can effectively explain to them how prescribed medications can help them heal.
Thompson started the first pharmacist-run disease state management clinic at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center to address asthma, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, tobacco cessation, and anticoagulation.
She was instrumental in assisting the pharmacy consultant for the Office of the Surgeon General with policy development for a sole prescriber program, controlled substance take-back program, the use of Suboxone for narcotic addiction, and polypharmacy.
In 2009, Dr. Thompson was the pharmacy consultant to the Office of the Surgeon General’s Pain Management Task Force, and given the mission of providing recommendations for a holistic, multidisciplinary, mutimodal, and comprehensive pain management strategy for patients facing chronic pain.
In March of 2011, the Secretary of Defense approved the 109 recommendations of the task force, which include the creation of integrative pain centers at Army medical centers. A Pain Center for Excellence will also be established to promote consistent pain practice, education, and research throughout the Army.
Thompson has been recognized by the Army for her proficiency as a clinical pharmacist and strategist.
Thompson, a native of Eunice, is a 1975 Eunice High School graduate.
She is the daughter of the late Gustavia and Lorris Hebert of Eunice, and has been married to Donavon Thompson for 31 years.
She is the mother of 2 children: Joshua, 18, and Sarah, 12.