Pharmacy program likely must wait longer for facility

Despite warnings that the lack of a permanent home for the state’s only college of pharmacy could put its accreditation at risk, lawmakers say it’s unlikely they’ll fund a $38 million request this year for a pharmacy building at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

The college operates out of five temporary sites scattered across Hilo.

Lawmakers stress that they’re still weighing the request and have not made a final decision.

But they also say they’re hesitant to appropriate the money amid continuing economic uncertainty and mounting concerns about backlogged repairs across the 10-campus UH system.

"Why do we keep building stuff when we can’t manage and maintain the existing buildings? How can we afford to keep building new buildings?" said state Sen. David Ige, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Ige said there is a chance legislators could partially fund the request or look at "alternative" ways of kicking off the project.

"The cost of the (building) versus the number of students it serves is really the thing that we’re trying to balance," said Ige (D, Pearl Harbor-Pearl City-Aiea).

UH-Hilo had hoped to begin construction on a $55 million building for its Daniel K. Ino­uye College of Pharmacy as early as this spring.

The program has been telling its accreditors over the past six years that the program would have a permanent building.

Now, said UH-Hilo Chancellor Donald Stra­ney, "The accreditors want to see the building."

An accrediting team will visit the campus next month, and the university had hoped to share positive news about the campaign for permanent facilities.

John Pezzuto, College of Pharmacy dean, said if the program can’t get funding this legislative session, "I think the consequence would be we would not be compliant with our standards of accreditation. We would start toward the pathway of losing accreditation."

The college, founded in 2006, has grown into UH-Hilo’s premier program.

In its first year the college got about 400 applicants for 90 available seats. For this school year some 1,200 people applied.

The college is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the accrediting body for all pharmacy programs in the United States. Among the accreditation standards is that the college "must have adequate and appropriate physical facilities to achieve its mission and goals."

ACPE granted UH-Hilo’s College of Pharmacy accreditation in June 2011 for a two-year period.

In Hawaii, as in most places, pharmacists cannot be licensed without a degree from an accredited college of pharmacy.

The UH College of Pharmacy has about 370 students. About 167 are Hawaii residents.

The program is the only accredited college of pharmacy in the Pacific region. Tuition for the doctoral degree in pharmacy is $36,864 a year for nonresidents and $19,560 for residents.

Among students at the school, there is a fair amount of trepidation and frustration over the pace of efforts to secure a permanent facility.

"It’s extremely important," said Shadi Obeidi, 24, who is in his third year at the college.

Obeidi, from Alaska, said as he was researching pharmacy programs, he couldn’t find any others that do not have permanent facilities. Still, he said he chose Hawaii because it was competitive and met his needs.

State Rep. Isaac Choy (D, Manoa-Punahou-Moiliili), chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, said he doesn’t believe accreditation for the College of Pharmacy is at risk as long as the state is "moving toward getting a permanent building."

The Legislature appropriated $5.5 million in planning and design funds for the new building in 2009.

Choy said before the pharmacy building is funded, he wants to see UH tackle more than $400 million in backlogged repairs across the UH system.

"When we start building things, we have to start maintaining our buildings," he said. "As soon as we can get a handle on repairs and maintenance, we can start addressing new buildings."