Bengal Pharmacy Scholarship

Gary Michaelson knows first-hand the need for quality medical facilities in rural areas.

When the Arco resident and president of the Lost Rivers Medical Center Foundation had a heart attack many years ago, his heart specialist in Idaho Falls said he would not have survived if it hadn’t been for the care he received in his hometown at Lost Rivers Medical Center.

“I would not have survived the drive across the desert,” he said. “It’s life-saving to have medical facilities nearby, and that’s very difficult in these rural areas.”

When the community’s only pharmacist, Steve Streeper, announced his retirement in 2014, there was a potential gap in services for the Arco community. Bengal Pharmacy LLC, owned by the Idaho State University Foundation, began working with the Lost Rivers Medical Center to develop a plan for continued access to medications. Nationally, since 2006, nearly 300 rural communities, including four in Idaho, have lost their only pharmacy.

Michaelson says he is grateful that he and other community members will still have access to life-saving medications when needed. Without a nearby pharmacy, Michaelson says he would have to drive more than an hour from his home to the next nearest pharmacy in Blackfoot.

“It’s critical. We’ve got to have a pharmacy,” he said. “When you need medication, you need medication. You can’t always drive across the desert for medication.”

Pharmacy Tech Juel Lambert and ISU Pharmacy Resident Jessica Vickers tend to prescriptions at the new Bengal Pharmacy.

The new pharmacy is the state’s first full-service telepharmacy. It will be staffed with a pharmaceutical technologist and ISU pharmacy residents, with constant video supervision by a licensed pharmacist located at the Bengal Pharmacy on the ISU campus in Pocatello. Clients will receive medication prepared under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist, and can receive a private consultation with the pharmacist via video.

The innovative technology will provide both critical health care to the community and hands-on experience for ISU’s pharmacy students.

“The creation of the Bengal Pharmacy at Lost Rivers will not only advance the College’s research opportunities but has also helped implement our rural pharmacy residency program,” said Dr. Paul Cady, dean of the ISU College of Pharmacy. “It’s an innovative and cost-effective approach, offering critical pharmaceutical care to the community.”