Officials marked the groundbreaking of the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy complex with a ceremony and reception.
Speakers included U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, Lt. Gov. Troy Findley, State Sen. Vicki Schmidt, Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway and Kenneth L. Audus, dean of the School of Pharmacy.
“Through this new facility and the planned addition to our campus in Wichita, the School of Pharmacy will be able to produce more pharmacists and improve access to health care for all Kansans,” said Hemenway. “Kansas has shortages in pharmacists in both in rural and urban parts of the state. This expansion puts us on track to address this need.”
The new 110,000-square-foot School of Pharmacy building was funded by legislation authorizing $50 million in bonding authority from the state of Kansas. Approximately $4.5 million will go to an addition for the pharmacy school on the Wichita campus.
According to a 2008 study published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, every dollar invested in a school of pharmacy can generate a return of more than $20.
Established in 1885, the school has an enrollment of about 540 students in its doctoral programs. For the past seven years, it has ranked in the top five U.S. schools of pharmacy in funding from the National Institutes of Health and last year ranked 16th among public programs by U.S. News and World Report. An estimated 63 percent of KU pharmacy graduates live and work in Kansas after graduation, providing a range of vital health care services.
“Pharmacists can now offer bone health screening, cholesterol and glucose checks, blood pressure checks, and immunizations,” Audus said. “In many rural communities in this state, the pharmacist is not only the first point of contact in the health care system but often the only health care professional available. Pharmacists are generally the most accessible health care professionals in any community.”
Beyond Kansas, Audus said, the new facility would help to push forward new pharmaceuticals and treatments that will benefit people around the globe.
“The building will also serve our graduate program’s mission of educating researchers in drug discovery, design and development,” he said. “Currently, we have online graduate courses broadcast into major pharmaceutical companies and to India. The distance education technology in the new building will permit outreach for professional, graduate and continuing education within Kansas and across the United States and the world.”
