Innovative collaboration brings integrated specialty pharmacy services and shared health system expertise to southwest Arizona
DALLAS — Longitude Rx, the specialty pharmacy initiative of Longitude Health, today announced a new partnership with Onvida Health to launch an integrated specialty pharmacy program in Yuma, Arizona. The engagement marks the first time Longitude Rx will extend its services beyond its five member health systems: Baylor Scott & White Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Michigan Medicine, Novant Health, and Providence.
Through this partnership, Onvida will implement Longitude Rx’s specialty pharmacy model to enhance care coordination for patients needing complex therapies, and introduce a new on-site retail pharmacy to better serve employees and the local community.
The new model will transition patients from a fragmented network of external specialty pharmacies to a coordinated, health system-led approach. By bringing specialty pharmacy services in-house, Onvida’s pharmacists and care teams can be actively involved throughout the full continuum of care—helping patients secure approvals, access financial assistance, and manage medications in close alignment with their physicians. This structure not only improves outcomes and adherence but also minimizes delays, confusion, and cost burdens associated with high-cost medications.
“As a mission-driven community provider, we are committed to taking care of the whole patient, and that includes solving the challenges of fragmented specialty care,” said Jake Childs, PharmD, Chief Operating Officer of Onvida Health. “We selected Longitude Rx because they are mission-aligned, health-system owned and innovative in their approach compared to others we assessed. They bring the infrastructure and expertise to design and build the right pharmacy model for our community, while supporting our patients with clinical and financial oversight at every step.”
As part of the engagement, Onvida will gain access to Longitude Rx’s full suite of services, including tech-enabled solutions that optimize and coordinate workflows, medication access, embedded care teams, support hub operations for prior authorization and benefits investigation, and patient financial assistance programming. These offerings are tailored for health systems and designed to expand access to life-saving therapies while advancing affordability and care quality.
“This partnership exemplifies why Longitude Rx exists: to deliver the right capabilities at the right time to health systems doing the hard work of caring for their communities,” said Jigar Thakkar, PharmD, MBA, MHCDS, FACHE, CEO of Longitude Rx. “We are not selling a one-size-fits-all solution. We are building a program with Onvida Health that reflects their mission and elevates patient care. And we’re doing it by sharing proven clinical, operational, and technology infrastructure developed across some of the most sophisticated health systems in the country.”
Longitude Rx will embed clinical and operational experts alongside Onvida’s internal teams to stand up the program and align strategy with execution. This includes direct support for medication access, design of the in-house pharmacy infrastructure, and implementation of affordability programs that are often overlooked by traditional vendors. The partnership model ensures that Longitude Rx shares both the clinical responsibility and financial risk—aligning outcomes across both organizations.
This initiative builds on Onvida’s broader investment in patient-centered, community-based care. It will complement several major projects already underway, including the construction of a new hospital to serve South County residents and a multimillion dollar investment in a local health careers center. Together, these efforts aim to expand access, equity, and long-term sustainability for the region’s growing population.
“Onvida Health isn’t just a customer—they are a collaborator,” added Thakkar. “And their success will strengthen the entire Longitude Rx community.”
About Longitude Rx
Longitude Rx is a next-generation specialty pharmacy services provider developed by Longitude Health, a not-for-profit collaboration governed by leading U.S. health systems. Created by and for health systems, Longitude Rx delivers integrated specialty pharmacy solutions—including tech-enabled solutions that enable health systems to improve specialty medication access and adherence through enhanced care coordination, rare disease capabilities, and embedded clinical services—that improve access and affordability for patients. The platform draws on the clinical, operational, and data infrastructure built across its member organizations, including Baylor Scott & White Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Michigan Medicine, Novant Health, and Providence. As part of Longitude Health’s mission, Longitude Rx helps scale sustainable, system-aligned solutions that elevate care quality and outcomes across communities. Learn more at longitudehealth.org/longitude-rx and follow on Linked In.