Pharmacy school plan
altered
HILO » The University of Hawaii at Hilo has redesigned the financing of a proposed College of Pharmacy, making it independent of state money after five years, officials said yesterday.
The announcement was made in preparation for a university Board of Regents meeting in Hilo on Thursday to consider authorization for the school. Approval has been uncertain because of concerns about state funding, the choice of Hilo as a site and whether such a school is even needed.
Mayor Harry Kim said the UH-Hilo proposal has his backing. "We will support this every which way we can," he said.
A major concern from regents last month was the need for $2 million in operating money every year into the future. A new plan calling for higher proposed tuition would require a total of just less than $7 million in subsidies during the first five years but none after that, said project manager Jerry Johnson.
Tuition in 2007, the first year of classes, would be $12,979 for Hawaii residents, up from $11,896. Proposed nonresident tuition would be $24,120 in the first year, up from $23,795.
In comparison, the new, private Hawaii College of Pharmacy in Kapolei charges $28,000 a year for residents and nonresidents.
Construction costs of $25 million would come from the federal government and private donations, including from pharmaceutical companies.
Hilo was picked for the site because the Hawaii Pharmacists Association asked for it, said UH-Hilo Vice President Rose Tseng. The John A. Burns School of Medicine in Honolulu supports the Hilo site, she said.
The majority of pharmacy schools nationwide are not associated with medical schools, Johnson said. The Hilo site would put the school close to rural areas with the greatest need for services, he said.
The design of the four-year curriculum, leading to a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, would provide benefits statewide. Students would spend the first two years in Hilo. Their final two years would be in clinical practice around the state.
Of 66 students per class, 48 would do clinical work in Honolulu, while six each would do clinical work on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai.
The 35 faculty members would include 18 in Hilo, 13 in Honolulu and two each on Maui and Kauai.
Graduates can expect to earn $85,000 a year in Hawaii or $100,000 a year on the mainland, Johnson said. "I think we're going to have no problem finding students," he said.
Hawaii residents must now go to the mainland to study pharmacy, and many do not return, he said. But many mainland schools are shutting doors to out-of-state applicants because the demand is so great from their own residents, he said.
Hawaii needs about 45 new pharmacists a year just to replace retiring professionals, Johnson said, adding that the need will grow with the aging population.
