Binghamton University’s planned pharmacy school to get $10M in proposed state budget

BINGHAMTON — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s latest state-budget proposal includes $10 million for Binghamton University’s upcoming School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy.

That’s according to State Sen. Thomas Libous (R–Binghamton) and Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger in a news release.

Binghamton University will use the funding to begin site acquisition and design work for the pharmacy school.

The $10 million is part of an overall $60 million investment, Libous said in the news release.

“We see this as a couple-year process, but we believe that with the governor’s support we’re on a fast track. He made it very clear to me that this is the real deal,” Libous said.

The current plan is to have 300 students in the pharmacy school when fully enrolled, Stenger said in the news release.

“We’ll initially hire about 12 clinical and 12 research faculty [members], and with the additional graduate students, it will make a nice community, create jobs, and attract research dollars,” he added.

Libous anticipates the school will target Johnson City as the location for the new facility, which officials expect will be a 70,000-square-foot structure. Johnson City is home to UHS Wilson Medical Center, a 280-bed teaching hospital, according to its website.

“A school of pharmacy requires hospital rotations for its students, so we thought it best to locate the new school near a hospital,” said Stenger. “This is a critical announcement because we’ve been talking for months about space and, when we are so tight for space on [the Vestal main] campus, this answers a very big question for us.”

Binghamton University submitted its letter of intent to establish the school to the State University of New York in September. The university will submit its full proposal this spring, according to the news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

PHOTO CAPTION:

State Sen. Thomas Libous speaks to the media on Jan. 20 about Binghamton University’s plans for a School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Jonathan King, courtesy of Binghamton University