URI to dedicate CVS Caremark teaching/learning wing at College of Pharmacy

KINGSTON, RI – University of Rhode Island officials, pharmacy faculty and pharmacy students joined CVS Caremark Corp. leaders yesterday at 11 a.m. for a ribbon-cutting to formally celebrate and dedicate new facilities at the College of Pharmacy supported by the Woonsocket-based corporation.

The $75 million home of URI’s College of Pharmacy opened last fall. Yesterday’s ceremonies gave URI leaders a chance to recognize CVS Caremark for its many contributions to the success of the project and its lengthy record of support for the College of Pharmacy and URI overall.

The teaching and learning spaces highlighted yesterday are the: CVS Caremark Professional Practice Laboratory, CVS Caremark Teaching Wing, CVS Caremark Interdisciplinary Health Delivery Simulation Laboratory and CVS Caremark Multipurpose Teaching Laboratory.

The inclusion of such facilities in the building project was due in large part to a $2 million pledge made by CVS Caremark in 2009 to support the project and the pharmacy college. It remains the largest single corporate gift to URI’s College of pharmacy in its 56-year-history.

The simulation laboratory is designed for use by pharmacy and URI nursing students. Ultimately, physicians will also be able to participate in training sessions with the equipment from remote locations. One of the learning spaces features a mock CVS pharmacy where students work with faculty on developing their clinical and communication skills.

The goal in developing such teaching and learning spaces was to enhance teamwork and communication among pharmacists, nurses, physicians and other health professionals to deliver the best possible care to patients.

“We celebrate the commitment made by CVS Caremark to our students and faculty of the College of Pharmacy,” said URI President David M. Dooley. “These facilities are tangible examples of the productive and mutually beneficial partnership between our two organizations. Such collaborations only serve to benefit the health of Rhode Islanders, and indeed, people around the world, while also helping to bolster the state’s economy in the burgeoning health care and biomedical science industries.”

“This event commemorates the decades-long partnership between the University and CVS Caremark,” said E. Paul Larrat, interim dean of the College of Pharmacy. “We are deeply appreciative of the strong support that this organization has provided in assisting us in the education of caring, valued and effective pharmacists.”

“Rhode Island is CVS Caremark’s home, so we are very proud to support the expansion of the URI College of Pharmacy’s educational programs and facilities,” said Larry Merlo, president and chief executive officer of CVS Caremark. “The practice of pharmacy continues to evolve and pharmacists are playing a more direct role in improving their patients’ health. The addition of these teaching and learning spaces will help provide the resources that URI pharmacy students need to be successful in their careers.”

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