12/18/2009
GARY DEMUTH
During a tour of the pharmacy at Salina Regional Health Center Friday, Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said he was “delighted”  that the hospital will be implementing a post-graduate pharmacy residency program beginning in 2012.
The program will enable pharmacy college graduates to complete a one-year residency at the hospital. The goal is to develop pharmacists who will continue to practice in Kansas, especially in rural areas, said Linda Radke, pharmacy clinical coordinator at Salina Regional.
“It’s hands-on training in one year what would ordinarily take them five years,” Radke said.
Moran, who said he spends a lot of time in Congress dealing with health care issues, said it is vital to attract new pharmacists to rural communities in Kansas.
“There are eight counties in Kansas without a pharmacist,” he said.  “We sometimes forget that in rural America, pharmacists are at the forefront of people’s health care. I’m delighted that there now will be a greater opportunity to educate them in Salina.”


For more on the proposed pharmacy residency program, read reporter Gary Demuth's story in Saturday's Salina Journal.

---

Discuss This Story:

---