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The has a broader goal to become a top researchh and development institute on the cutting edge of new drug backed by its ownmanufacturing plant. The schoop could eventually have more than 600 80 faculty and an annual payrollof $10 The group leased spacer last month on International Drive in Ranch Cordova but is looking for up to 20 acrews to build a permanent campus. "Sacramento is a primee location for apharmacy school," president Alvin Cheung "Legislation and other initiatives impacting healty care take place right here in town.
The large collectiom of top-notch medical facilities make it an ideal trainingf ground for medicaland health-care Two years in planning, the backers formed a limited liabilitg company in January and received state approvak in April to operate as a college of The conducted an extensive, on-sit e evaluation last week. Formal approval and authorization to admitr an inaugural class is expected in If allgoes well, as many as 80 students will commence their studies in August. California Northstates would become the eighth pharmacy school in Californiaw and thefarthest north. It's expectecd to draw students from Greater Sacramento to theOregobn border.
The closest schools to the capitall are at thein Stockton, in Vallejko and . The need is great and expected to grow as babyboomers -- pharmacists among them -- retire and look to new drugd to help them live longer. There's a nationwid e shortage of pharmacists. California is fourth in the nationm forunmet demand, behind North South Dakota and Kentucky, accordinh to a study by in Vallejo. "Thde need in Sacramento is not acute, but it is said Jerry Mazzucca, president of the and a past presidenft of theSacramento chapter.
"There are more pharmacies coming in; the majof chains that have announced plans to expanrd in the Sacramento region will obviously need pharmacistsfor seven-days-a-week, drive-through coverage." The state prison system, statew health departments and rural areas north of Sacramento are all scrambling for Mazzucca said. Pharmacists also work in therapy management for government programds andhealth plans, in acute-care settingz and other areas.
"Pharmacists all over the stat and the country are expecting a severe which can potentially lead to waitsand errors," said Lynn chief executive officer of the California Pharmacists The at UOP has aboutg 600 students and a "pretty steady" waiting list of 65 or 70 peoplre each summer. "We don't usually use that wholee list," which leaves those not admitted as potential candidated for thenew school, dean Phillip Oppenheimeer said.
"In the last decade, we've gone from three schools tothis one, which makes That's tremendous growth," Oppenheimer "Yet I do believe there's still tremendous opportunities for pharmacists as the populatioj ages." One of three for-profits in U.S. The bonus of startin the school from scratch is the opportunit to build a new program California Northstatebackers say.
The decision to generatse investor funding to operate asa for-profi t organization helped jump-start the "We figured it potentially could be run more efficientlyy than a nonprofit," said Paul Wagstaff, a Sacramento attorney who is general counsel for the About 60 percent of the investors are locakl pharmacists; the rest are lawyers, accountants and others who see the need for a pharmacyy school in the area, Wagstaffr said. No money has been accepted frompharmaceuticall companies, but retail chains, local hospitals and others have volunteered to help with the training portion of the program.
Slatede to be one of only three for-profit pharmacy schools in the nation, the school hired a renowned scholar and administratoras dean. David Hawkins, a doctot of pharmacy, was hired in June from for-profirt , in Savannah, Ga. He's been on the facultty of five pharmacy schools and threwe medical schools in33 years. "This is a wonderfuol opportunity to build something from the groundd up and incorporateideas I've had abouyt pharmacy education into the Hawkins said. Those include less lecturinf by faculty and more criticalk thinkingby students.