The USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences celebrated the launch of its first community pharmacy in the South L.A. area, filling a gap created by the closure of Rite Aid two years ago.
According to the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, many South L.A. neighborhoods have fewer than five pharmacies per 100,000 residents, creating a significant pharmacy desert.
However, this new location will provide more than the typical walk-in pharmacy.
“It’s not only a retail pharmacy … it’s an opportunity for us to teach our USC Mann students about social impact and delivering care in a location that may not have a lot of care,” said USC Mann’s executive director of community pharmacies Raffi Svadjian. “So I think it intersects USC’s academic mission with our desire to have a pharmacy that provides access to health care.”
Located on 3232 W. Slauson Ave, the pharmacy was created with USC Mann’s long-standing tradition of community service in mind. It also contributes to newly appointed President Beong-Soo Kim’s commitment to “the health and well-being of the South Los Angeles community.”
“No one should have to travel long distances or face barriers to access life-saving medications,” he said in a statement released Thursday.
In addition to providing prescriptions and immunizations at the new pharmacy, the site also has a community room for health education programming and outreach programs.
“What, to me, makes this unique — it’s not just a walk in pharmacy where you get your meds,” Chair of South LA Alliance of Neighborhood Councils Thryer Mason said. “You can actually learn here, experience wellness here, get some calm here, and some healing here.”
In addition to serving the community, the pharmacy helps future pharmacists hone their craft.
“We always talk about population health, we talk about prevention, we talk about treatment, taking care of communities, so a lot of talk,” USC Mann Dean Vassilios Papadopoulos said. “We need some work, so essentially we are trying to really deliver on what we are all about, what we are teaching.”
Papadopoulos said the new pharmacy aims to combine hands-on learning with community outreach, practicing what the school preaches in collaboration with T.H.E. (To Help Everyone) Health and Wellness Centers clinic.
T.H.E. Health and Wellness Centers aim “to improve the well-being of underserved communities in Los Angeles by providing access to high-quality healthcare and preventive education for all, regardless of ability to pay,” according to their mission statement.
“No vision is too large when it comes to health care, especially in this community,” said Mason. “And I do believe that people will be really open to receiving an expansion.”
The pharmacy is set to open to customers this spring, with further details to be announced at a later date.