TAWNYA PANIZZI | Monday, Dec. 20, 2021 12:01 a.m.
An Aspinwall pharmacist has been honored for lengthy public service that includes flood relief efforts, mission trips to Honduras and volunteering with the Boy Scouts.
She has walked for diabetes awareness and educated teens on safe dating practices.
For her tireless commitment to a healthy community, Trish Klatt, a borough resident for 26 years, is the Bowl of Hygeia Award winner from the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA).
Hygeia is the Greek goddess of health. The Bowl of Hygeia Award, founded in 1958, is given annually by state pharmacy associations and is the highest honor given by the PPA.
It is bestowed for outstanding records of civic leadership and encourages pharmacists to take active roles in their communities, according to the state chapter.
“I got involved in all of these efforts because I saw opportunities to improve our already-amazing community,” Klatt said.
A founding board member for Allegheny RiverTrail Park (ARP), just off Freeport Road in Aspinwall, Klatt continues a decade later to help steer operations, planning and development at the site, which has a walking trail, native gardens and public fishing dock.
Early on, Klatt led efforts by Fox Chapel District Association to install a walking trail at O’Hara Community Park. She went on to found the Community Trails Initiative, which mapped out bike/walking trail options from Millvale to Freeport.
ARP Founder Susan Crookston called Klatt an extraordinary person who has dedicated her life and work to making the community and the environment stronger.
“She’s made such a positive impact on her patients, Allegheny County, communities in Appalachia and beyond,” Crookston said.
A 1992 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and a 1994 graduate of the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, Klatt began her career in family medicine at UPMC St. Margaret.
In 2003, she established a Pharmacy Residency that was embedded into a Family Medicine program, a concept that was uncommon for its time. It has grown from one resident to five Post Graduate Year 1 (PGY) and five PGY2 residents.
Her interest in what’s happening around her is a natural extension of her personality, Klatt said.
She has worked with school nurses across the region to increase awareness of asthma symptoms in students and develop a policy that improves access by students to their medications.
She also has taught health lessons in local schools that include “Teddy Bear Clinics” for kindergarteners. The hands-on sessions encourage the youngsters to use blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes and otoscopes on furry teddy bears to become more comfortable with a doctor’s visit.
Klatt serves as the clinical director for the University of Pittsburgh’s CoVax Vaccination Center, which offers covid-19 and flu vaccines to the college community.
“Contributing to maintaining the health of our community during this pandemic is an honor,” she said. “The Bowl of Hygeia award is an incredible honor that I was humbled to receive.”
