April 25, 2008
The proposed expansion of the KU School of Pharmacy, which is needed to address the critical shortage of pharmacists in our state, earned strong support from Governor Sebelius and legislators during the regular legislative session.
However, we have reached a critical juncture regarding this proposal. On April 21, Governor Sebelius vetoed the Legislature’s original funding mechanism for the pharmacy school expansion. Though she has not wavered in her support for this vital program, she found the limitations placed on the funding mechanism too onerous.
The governor and the legislature will work out their differences over the method of funding the pharmacy school expansion in the coming days. We will work with all of them so as not to let this procedural dispute prevent us from ensuring that Kansans have access to pharmacists in their communities.
Various budget committees have met in Topeka this week, and the entire Legislature will reconvene April 30 for its wrap-up session. Our message to legislators at this point is simple: The KU School of Pharmacy, ranked third in the nation, is the state’s sole provider of pharmacy education. Pharmacists are front-line providers of health care and Kansas is suffering a severe shortage. Seven counties have no pharmacists, while 30 have only one, and this is not a problem confined to rural areas.
We remain confident that legislators and the governor will continue to support this expansion of KU’s pharmacy program, and that in the near future even more KU-educated pharmacists will be serving the people of Kansas.
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