Grants awarded for rural pharmacists

Anne Polta
West Central Tribune - 04/20/2006

Johnson Memorial Health Services of Dawson has received a $46,500 state grant to develop a rural pharmacy residency program.

The program, a partnership with the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, will give future pharmacists a chance to train in a rural setting. It’s a strategy that’s designed not only to help improve rural access to pharmacy services but also to encourage these students to choose rural practice when they finish their training.

The grant is one of six to be awarded through a new rural pharmacy planning and transition grant program. The grant awards — $180,000 in all — were announced Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.

There were 13 applications for the funds, said Mark Schoenbaum, director of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.

“The interest in the program confirms that there is both interest and need for this,” he said.

Pharmacy services are particularly important in rural Minnesota, where there’s a higher proportion of elderly residents who are more likely to need prescription drugs.

Pharmacists often play a significant role in educating customers and helping ensure access to prescription drugs in rural Minnesota towns. They also provide critical services to local hospitals and nursing homes.

It’s getting harder for many towns, however, to maintain pharmacy services.

Johnson Memorial, for instance, no longer has its own pharmacist; instead it relies on pharmacists who commute from 40 to 50 miles away.

It’s hoped that the pharmacy transition grant program will help bridge gaps such as this.

Other grants that were awarded will help support projects ranging from telepharmacy services to a community needs assessment.

Schoenbaum said each of the grant recipients will be reporting their progress and results to the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.

“We will be keeping track,” he said. “Part of our goal then is to make the success stories and the lessons learned available around the state.”

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