USC News, November 2, 2022, Leigh Hopper
A USC-developed interactive mapping tool shows the location of every pharmacy in the United States — and which neighborhoods are “pharmacy deserts.”
Designing a map that identified ‘pharmacy deserts’
Her latest project is an interactive, nationwide mapping tool showing the location of every pharmacy in the United States and which neighborhoods fall into the category of “pharmacy deserts,” or pharmacy shortage areas. The Pharmacy Access Initiative is a collaboration with the School of Pharmacy, the USC Schaeffer Center, the Spatial Sciences Institute at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the National Community Pharmacists Association, which represents independent pharmacies around the country.
The map identifies nearly 1 in 4 neighborhoods — representing millions of Americans — as pharmacy shortage areas.