Lawmakers show uneasy support of pharmacy school

Wednesday, June 7, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Despite some misgivings about money, the Legislative Committee on Health Care Tuesday endorsed the creation of a school of pharmacy within the University and Community College System of Nevada.

The school is projected to graduate its first class in 2007.

The committee agreed to send letters of support to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in hopes of getting federal aid and to the university regents, who are considering the project in their upcoming budget.

Students would get their basic science training at the University of Nevada, Reno, and their clinical experience at UNLV during the six-year program to lead to a doctorate in pharmacy.

Dr. David Westfall, vice president of academic affairs and professor of pharmacology at the university medical school, told the committee Nevada is the only state in the west without a pharmacy school.

A private school has announced plans to open in Henderson in September 2001.

The average tuition in the West for in-state students is $7,056 and for out-of-state students, $16,217. For private schools of pharmacy, the cost is $24,177.

Westfall said the state school, which would open with an estimated 35 students, would charge $6,500 to residents and $13,000 to out-of-state students.

The cost to operate the school would be $2.5 million a year, and Westfall estimated $1 million would come from tuition when it's in full operation.

"We can't say it will ever be self sufficient," Westfall said. It would be like other public schools that require state support.

"By the seventh year, we will cover a lot of costs," he said.

Westfall said Reid has been approached about getting a federal grant, and the state may not have to underwrite the school for the first four years.

But legislators were dubious.

"We've heard that story before," Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, said, expressing reservations about the availability of federal money. With state finances as they are, she added, "We're backed up against a wall."

Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, said it is the "wrong time with all the other things -- a dental school and other issues. This doesn't mean I won't support it in the future."

Assemblywoman Merle Berman, R-Las Vegas, asked for more information on the cost and questioned if a private pharmacy school might be willing to come into Nevada at no cost to the state taxpayer.

Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, offered strong support for the project but suggested the classes be bigger and more out-of-state students be recruited. He said Nevada students are leaving the state to go to school and "We're losing our bright kids every generation."

He said it was "exorbitant" that a Nevada student should have to pay $16,000 to attend a pharmacy school in another state. He said families should not have to come up with that amount of money.

"We do have to think of the costs," Westfall said. "But I have a sense that if we don't do it soon, we will lose the opportunity."

He said a private pharmacy school in Nevada would be "extraordinarily expensive."

On another issue, the committee heard from John Yacenda, deputy director of the state Department of Human Resources, who said the "growing pains are over" for the Nevada Check-Up program, which provides low-cost insurance for children of the working poor.

He said there are an estimated 23,000 eligible children in Nevada for the program and the state has enrolled 11,132. The program is financed by the federal and state governments.

Yacenda said the state did not spend $21 million of federal funds available in the opening year of the program. The money was available in fiscal year 1998, but Nevada didn't start its program until fiscal 1999 and then had three years to use up the money.

Unused funds went back to the U.S. Treasury. Other states had the same problem, he said.

"We will be challenged to spend all of it in the future," he said.

Yacenda said states are asking Congress to amend the law to allow more flexibility in spending. For instance, he said, Nevada would like to be able to spend more money on "outreach" or the effort to get people to enroll.