The lack of a full-time staff pharmacist at California State University, Fresno has forced the on-campus pharmacy to close.

The pharmacy located in the Student Health Center has been closed on and off throughout the semester.

Administrative associate director of health, Dirk Ruthrauff, said that the pharmacist converted to part time and has been unavailable to work this month.  Therefore, the pharmacy has been closed since Oct. 2.

Just because the pharmacy is closed on campus doesn’t mean students without insurance don’t have an option. Many chain pharmacies offer discount programs for uninsured customers.

The health center offers the government funded Family Pact program. It is completely free to sign up for the program.

“Family PACT is a good program a lot of students are enrolled in,” Ruthrauff said.

With this program, students get their prescriptions filled at the programs expense.

LVN Peggy Jackson said she hears students complain about the pharmacy being closed all the time.

Jackson said that when a student is given a prescription, they are told that they’ll have to take it to an outside pharmacy.

Jackson explained the health center usually refers students to the Wal-Mart pharmacy or Costco pharmacy. She also said that Costco does not require people to be a member to utilize its pharmacy.

She said that the health center prescribes inexpensive drugs to begin with.

Another patient assistance program other than the Family PACT program is the Bridges to Access program. Jackson said that the program is good, especially for students who are on long-term medications.

“I would say about 90 percent of students here qualify for patient assistance programs,” Jackson said.

“We have selected a new pharmacist that will start on Nov. 2.  We should be open that afternoon,” Ruthrauff said.

For more information, visit the program’s Web site at www.pparx.org. Once there, the student types in the name of the prescribed drug. An immediate response is received if there is a free program for that particular medication. The application is then downloaded. The student fills out his or her part and the health center fills out its part. If the student is qualified, they’ll get their medications shipped for free for up to a year.