New Zealand pharmaceutical care pioneer Bernard McKone honored by King Charles III.

Abstract

Bernard (Bernie) McKone of Cromwell, Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, was appointed a 2023 officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit by King Charles III for service to patients and the pharmaceutical sector.1 In a career spanning more than 40 years, McKone has worked at the leading edge of the pharmacy profession. In 1994, McKone and four New Zealand colleagues traveled to the United States seeking to adapt the tenets of pharmaceutical care practice through collaborations with colleagues in Minnesota and elsewhere.2 These collaborations culminated in development of the Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Care program that remains viable in New Zealand. McKone’s dedication to his community, patients, and profession also earned him distinction as a 2021 Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand (PSNZ) Gold Medal recipient, the highest honor bestowed by the society, often regarded as proportional to the American Pharmacists Association Remington Honor Medal.3 The New Zealand Order of Merit was instituted by royal warrant in 1996 to recognize those who, “in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the Crown and the nations or who have become distinguished by their eminence, talents, contributions, or other merits.”4