Perhaps the best news Kansas University has gotten from the Kansas Legislature this year was approval of $50 million to expand the KU School of Pharmacy.

In a tight budget year, state legislators should be applauded for recognizing the need to enhance the state’s only pharmacy school. The funding will finance construction of a new pharmacy building on KU’s West Campus and a pharmacy school addition to the KU School of Medicine in Wichita. The improvements will allow the KU pharmacy school to admit about 190 students per year, compared with the current 105 students.

That might at least begin to address the pharmacist shortage in Kansas. Kansas Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a practicing pharmacist from Topeka, shared some interesting facts with her colleagues last week:

¢ Seven Kansas counties have no retail pharmacy and another 30 counties have only one pharmacy.

¢ The average age of an independent pharmacy owner is 54, and 37 percent of all active pharmacists in Kansas are over the age of 50.

Legislators were right to see the important role pharmacists play in the delivery of health care statewide. That role will only expand as the baby boomer generation ages.

Especially in rural areas, pharmacists play a key health care role. People may have a number of doctors, including out-of-town specialists, but they depend on a hometown pharmacist for their prescription needs. Those pharmacists not only are in a position to monitor medications and how they might interact but they also see clients on a regular basis, giving them an opportunity to answer questions and observe a patient’s condition. They are not physicians, but they have important knowledge that allows them to advise clients and communicate with doctors and patients in vital, perhaps life-saving, ways.

Turning out more graduates is good, but there still is the challenge of encouraging more of these young pharmacists to live and work in these underserved communities and counties.

The KU School of Pharmacy has a strong tradition and a good reputation. When it was founded in 1885, it was only the third university school of pharmacy in the nation. It also has compiled a great record of turning out top-notch students who are able to substantially beat the national averages for successfully passing pharmacy licensing exams.

According to KU, well over half of the pharmacists in Kansas are graduates of the KU School of Pharmacy. They provide a vital service that is worthy of the additional support from state taxpayers.