The administration has been searching for budget cuts across the board, and Student Health Services was asked to cut $250,000 from their working budget. As a result, the pharmacy will be closing its doors at the Cheney International center.
UW Student Health director Joanne Steane announced the elimination of two positions in the pharmacy at the end of the 2017 fiscal year in June. As a result, there will now be one less pharmacy option in Laramie, and none to speak of on campus. While this is a bad look for a University that constantly claims to put the well being of students as their main priority, we understand the current economic climate lends itself to making difficult decisions. We recognize these decisions are not personal, and sometimes must be made in order to efficiently run such a large institution.
At the same time, this budget cut has already sent waves through the Laramie community. The pharmacy closing has a disproportionate effect on out-of-state students, where some forms of insurance can only be accepted at certain locations. This puts some students in jeopardy of needing to pay fees at other pharmacies to get their medicine, or go through some sort of mailing service to receive their medication.
Even if students are able to transfer successfully between pharmacies in town, this still leaves some students without many options. If a student does not have a mode of transportation, going to another pharmacy off campus can be difficult. Even with the multiple public transportations offered in the Laramie area, they stop at few locations where a pharmacy may be accessible. Obtaining a prescription should not take the deal of effort, especially in the busy schedule of a student.
We are not asking the administration leave the pharmacy open at this time, since no amount of our ink will change this decision. Student Health Services indicated they are working on a solution to re-open the pharmacy in the near future. If President Laurie Nichols can get the ship turned and the budget reworked, we expect to see the return of the pharmacy.
The purpose of our stance on this particular issue is to show that budget cuts are having a tangible effect on students, and the pharmacy is only the start. Loss of degree programs and jobs prove this university is in dire straights in a weak economic climate. There are other positions and programs that face the chopping block, and there is little we can do to change this outcome. Perhaps it is time to reconsider how the University is funded, or how they accommodate their revenue before the well being of students falls by the wayside again.
