Center for Pharmacy Services Garners $100,000 McAuley Ministries Grant

The Center for Pharmacy Services has been awarded a $100,000 grant from McAuley Ministries, the grant-making arm of Pittsburgh Mercy Health System.

Through the grant, which will be distributed over two years, the Center for Pharmacy Services will hire an outreach coordinator to expand its disease management, health screenings and health education activities in the Hill District, Uptown and West Oakland.

“This grant will enable the Center for Pharmacy Services to provide services to more community residents by reaching out through local churches, civic groups and other concerned organizations,” said Dr. Thomas Mattei, associate dean of professional programs in the School of Pharmacy.

The Center for Pharmacy Services, located in the Hill District neighborhood, works to:

• improve access to medications and patient adherence
• enhance medication safety
• reduce overall health care expenditures.

“For more than sixty years, we have continued the tradition of joining forces with the Pittsburgh Sisters of Mercy and their involvement in the neighboring communities,” said Dr. J. Douglas Bricker, dean of pharmacy. “It is a symbol of the School of Pharmacy living our mission to improve health outcomes in patients and communities.”

The Center for Pharmacy Services is the first faculty-designed, university-operated community pharmacy in the nation.

McAuley Ministries—part of Catholic Health East and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy—presented the grant as part of its efforts to assist projects that support entrepreneurship and workforce development, affordable housing, educational success, health and wellness, community development, and capacity building in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Uptown and West Oakland neighborhoods.