Conveniently located pharmacies foster healthier communities. But one in three urban neighborhoods is a pharmacy desert, meaning people there have no options for filling prescriptions within a half mile of their home without transportation—or a mile if they have cars.
“A mile may not seem like much, but if you don’t have a car and have problems walking, bus connections are bad, the weather is inclement, the neighborhood is dangerous, and you have a child who needed that antibiotic yesterday for a raging infection, a mile can be impossible,” says Associate Professor Dima Qato, who coined the term “pharmacy desert” and serves as Hygeia Centennial Chair and at the USC Mann School.
COVID-19 and economic pressures have worsened the situation. Large pharmacy chains are closing their less-profitable outlets. Independent pharmacies are endangered by the increasing vertical integration of such chains with insurance providers and pharmaceutical benefit managers. This gives chain pharmacies a market power that their smaller counterparts cannot match.
To help remedy this situation in our home city, the school is opening USC Pharmacy and Wellness Center at 3232 W. Slauson Avenue (at Crenshaw Boulevard). This facility will expand our mission of service, provide professional experience to our students and widen the range of our healthcare research.
Replacing a Desert with an Oasis
We invite you to become a philanthropic investor in this life-changing enterprise aimed at greening one of the nation’s most pronounced pharmacy deserts.
A new kind of pharmacy and wellness center in South Los Angeles designed to increase access to pharmacy services and high-quality healthcare:
- On-Site Clinic in Partnership with To Help Everyone
- Pharmacist-Led Care
- Health Education
Above and beyond providing prescription medications, the USC Pharmacy and Wellness Center will offer:
- Ongoing no-cost health workshops and events
- Quick health tests (point-of-care testing)
- Comprehensive medication safety checks and reviews
- Help managing chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure
The site will also serve as a hub for the California Right Meds Collaborative (CRMC), headed by Associate Dean Steven Chen, the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Health. The CRMC confronts chronic disease by expanding the role of pharmacists in partnership with payers to improve medication adherence.
In addition, the USC Pharmacy and Wellness Center will provide yet another valuable training site for our students. PharmD candidates will build frontline experience under the careful tutelage of alumni preceptors graciously volunteering their time and expertise.
Prescription for Success
In a time when market consolidation threatens pharmacies that value service over profit, the new pharmacy will serve as a model for rejuvenating the community pharmacy. But even that is just the beginning—even as it accomplishes so much more in terms of clinical services, research and training.
Yet we must still raise the resources to unlock the facility’s doors to improved community health. Please join us in this powerful enterprise that deepens pharmacy’s impact and expands the field’s promise.
Whether you give money, time or in-kind donations, your generosity will help us make Los Angeles a healthier place.