Trade group says state among worst in pharmacist shortages

GREENSBORO, N.C. - A professional trade group says North Carolina has one of the nation's worst shortages of pharmacists.

The Association of Community Pharmacists says because the law requires a pharmacist to be on duty any time a pharmacy is open, the shortage can affect a pharmacy's hours.

And while the number of pharmacists in North Carolina is growing, it cannot keep up with increasing demand.

The Pharmacy Manpower Project tracks demand for and supply of licensed pharmacists and rates it on a scale from 1, meaning demand for licensed pharmacists is much less than the supply, to 5, which means great difficulty filling open positions. North Carolina has a rating of 4.57 as of June, trailing only Alabama.

The shortage extends to those who teach future pharmacists. A report this summer at a meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy says there were more than 400 vacancies among a national market of 5,000 teaching positions in 2006.

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