Partner Event – Shuttered Pharmacies: A Major Hole in Healthcare

Last updated 04/07/2023

From administering vaccines to prescribing contraceptives and dispensing naloxone for the prevention of a fatal overdose, pharmacies play a vital role in community wellbeing. Yet, nearly one in four U.S. neighborhoods lack convenient access to pharmacies, and hundreds of pharmacies close their doors every year. Pharmacy deserts contribute to persistent racial and ethnic health disparities.

Why is this happening and what can be done to ensure access to pharmacy services? For answers, please sit in on a conversation by a distinguished panel: U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (TN-1), who has been a licensed pharmacist since 1987; Ronna Hauser, PharmD, senior vice president of policy and pharmacy affairs at the National Community Pharmacists Association; and Dima Qato, senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center. Karen Van Nuys, executive director of the Value of Life Sciences Innovation research program at the Schaeffer Center, will moderate this timely discussion.

This webinar is hosted by the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, the USC Mann School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the USC Price School of Public Policy.