Board to discuss future of Midway's pharmacy school in Paintsville

Midway College's goal to put a pharmacy school in Eastern Kentucky is in question.

The University of Charleston, the private West Virginia school that explored the possibility of operating a pharmacy school in the Midway building in Paintsville, announced in late April that "it is not in the best interests ... to proceed at this time."

And a page on the Midway College Web site says: "The Midway College of Pharmacy is no longer seeking accreditation. At this time applications are no longer being accepted."

The page directs students who had previously applied to the pharmacy school to complete a reimbursement form for a refund of application fees and deposits.

Asked whether or not the program was dead, Midway College spokeswoman Ellen Gregory wrote in an e-mail Tuesday that issues related to the Paintsville campus will be discussed Thursday at the next board of trustees meeting.

In an April 4 letter to the Kentucky Council of Postsecondary Education, Sarah Laws, accreditation liaison for Midway College, said the Woodford County school "has initiated conversations with the University of Kentucky concerning their possible interest in the Paintsville pharmacy school."

Midway and UK officials met to discuss the issue, but Tom Harris, a spokesman for UK, said Tuesday that "there was no follow-up after that. There are no plans for UK Pharmacy involvement in that program."

Midway College announced in January 2010 that would expand into Eastern Kentucky by establishing a pharmacy school in Johnson County. It was to be the first non-profit private pharmacy school in Kentucky. (The only pharmacy schools in the state are operated by the University of Kentucky and Sullivan University.)

Midway College said its research showed there was a shortage of pharmacists across the country. Nevertheless, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, the Chicago-based organization that accredits pharmacy programs, "was not looking favorably" upon the Midway application for a new program, said University of Charleston President Edwin Welch. He said he did not know specific reasons, and the accreditation council did not return a phone call on Tuesday.

Travis Powell, general counsel for the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said in e-mail that Midway "never provided an official reason as to why the institution abandoned the pharmacy school project in Paintsville. Powell said it is the "CPE's understanding that the primary issues were related to the pharmacy school leadership."

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Board to discuss future of Midway's pharmacy school in Paintsville