A new corner of South Los Angeles is about to get its own neighborhood pharmacy, courtesy of USC. The university is opening its first community pharmacy in the area at 3232 W. Slauson Ave., with plans to welcome patients in April and stay open six days a week.
The USC Pharmacy and Wellness Center is designed to bring prescription fills, vaccinations and basic health screenings back within reach for residents who have watched chain drugstores vanish over the years. University leaders say the site will double as a hands-on training ground for pharmacy students and a hub for local health programs.
The USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will run the new center in partnership with T.H.E. (To Help Everyone) Health and Wellness Centers, creating an on-site clinic alongside pharmacist-led care, according to USC Mann School of Pharmacy. USC frames the Slauson location as part of a broader push to bring medical services back into neighborhoods that have lost easy access to a drugstore.
What the center will offer
Once it opens in April, the Slauson pharmacy will offer screenings for diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as immunizations, medication-therapy management and consultations on non-prescription remedies, according to CBS Los Angeles. The center is slated to operate six days a week.
Organizers say the combination of a clinic and a full-service pharmacy is meant to cut down on the long cross-town trips that many older residents and people without cars have been making just to pick up basic medications.
Why Slauson?
USC researchers identified this stretch of South LA as part of a growing "pharmacy desert." The Slauson address was chosen to help plug that gap and keep essential medications such as insulin and antibiotics within neighborhood reach, as reported by MyNewsLA.
"This pharmacy represents USC’s ongoing commitment to the health and well-being of the South Los Angeles community," USC President Beong-Soo Kim said in a statement, per MyNewsLA.
Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of the Mann School, described the project as a direct response to "a very much growing issue" of pharmacy access following the closure of neighborhood outlets by national chains, according to CBS Los Angeles. In the same report, Provost Andrew Guzman said the center will "strengthen the local healthcare infrastructure."
Training and community impact
Beyond filling prescriptions, USC says the Slauson pharmacy will serve as a training site for PharmD students and a base for community programming, from medication-safety reviews to no-cost health workshops, according to USC Pharmacies.
University leaders and local advocates describe the project as a modest but concrete response to a nationwide wave of pharmacy closures. They say this Slauson model, which blends clinical care, education and neighborhood outreach, will be watched closely to see whether it can be replicated in other underserved communities.
