The LSU Student Health Center’s pharmacy is shifting to private ownership this January after failing as a self-sustaining entity.
Pharmacy ownership is not yet open for bids from private corporations, but the SHC expects to have a company contracted and moved into the location by 2016.
The SHC operates exclusively through a $155 fee per student per semester, while the pharmacy operated independently.
Since she assumed her position as executive director of the SHC in June 2012, D’Ann Morris said the center has been subsidizing the pharmacy to the tune of about $100,000 per fiscal year.
Morris, a member of university administration since 1988, said she cannot continue to put students’ money into a service that should be self-sustaining.
Pharmacy employees were informed of the decision in mid-August.
LSU Media Relations Director Ernie Ballard said the administration supports Morris’ decision.
Though the pharmacy currently accepts only the insurance offered through the university, the future company’s contract will require it to accept all forms of insurance, as well as Tiger Cash, which has been accepted as pharmacy payment for many years.
Morris said the pharmacy’s limited insurance options factored into its loss of revenue.
Pharmacy Supervisor Carolyn Lancon said she feels the decision to privatize the pharmacy was too sudden and one-sided.
Lancon said she is fully aware the pharmacy has been operating at a loss and had repeatedly suggested her operation begin to accept other forms of insurance. She said the suggestion did not receive much feedback or support.
Morris said that accepting all forms of insurance was not a viable option.
“From a business standpoint, it was not going to work without hiring additional people, which would mean more money,” she said.
While Lancon and the other pharmacists will be able to interview with the future vendor, Morris said she cannot control whether the company retains the current pharmacy staff.
LSU has privatized university-run operations in the past, such as the Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
Morris said she does not anticipate a shift to privatizing the rest of the SHC due to its “collaborative” nature.
The SHC medical, mental and wellness divisions operate using the same record system in the same facility. Privatizing those aspects of the SHC could break the ease of connection between divisions, she said.