A permanent investment in North Dakota healthcare access
In some rural North Dakota communities, local pharmacies are the main point of healthcare access for residents.
“About 60% of pharmacies in North Dakota are in rural communities,” said Mike Schwab, executive vice president of the North Dakota Pharmacists Association.
To support these pharmacists and others across the state, the NDSU Center for Collaboration and Advancement in Pharmacy provides training, resources and support to help keep care close to home.
But continuing and expanding that work requires something the CAP Center has yet to have – sustainable funding.
“As a center, we’re 100% reliant on external funding,” said Elizabeth Skoy, director of the CAP Center and professor of pharmacy practice at NDSU.
Currently, the center’s funding comes from competitive grants and one-time gifts. Unfortunately, grant funding availability varies, making it difficult to budget for programs, community outreach, or responding to emerging priorities across the healthcare industry in North Dakota.
The CAP Center was created in 2021 to help pharmacists expand services and improve health outcomes, especially in rural communities. It is built on four core principles: education and training; programs and implementation; consulting and support; and data and outcomes.
The CAP Center has several current initiatives to address the four core principals. The initiatives include improving and managing chronic diseases, such as high cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension; reducing tobacco use and tobacco-related disease and death; ensuring antibiotics are used only when necessary; preventing opioid misuse and accidental overdose; and increasing vaccine outreach.
Collaboration is an important way the CAP Center advances these initiatives, working with the North Dakota Pharmacists Association, the North Dakota Pharmacy Board and university to develop new resources and provide new training, said Dave Olig, NDSU alumnus, foundation trustee and retired faculty member.
“North Dakota is extremely unique in that we’re willing to do the work together so we can maximize everybody’s capabilities,” Olig said. “It’s worked very well. We’ve got an awful lot of great things done.”
Advancements in the pharmacy industry are ways to further healthcare access in rural and urban areas, which is not only beneficial, but necessary as the state and nation faces shortages in healthcare workers.
According to the North Dakota August 2026 job openings report, there are a total of 12,435 jobs open with about 3,000 openings in healthcare. While healthcare workforce shortages are happening across the nation, those shortages can be particularly challenging in rural communities.
One way North Dakota is addressing this need is through new prescriptive authority for pharmacists. This was signed into law by Governor Kelly Armstrong in January of 2026.
“The pharmacist isn’t going to replace the doctor, but they’re going to be able to do several things and also determine when a doctor needs to be provided,” Skoy said.
Pharmacists can now prescribe medications for issues such as motion sickness and smoking cessation. They can also provide basic vitals, and test and treatment for common illnesses such as the flu, COVID-19 and strep throat.
The CAP Center is helping prepare pharmacists across the state in rural and urban areas to provide these new services through trainings, developing and providing patient handouts about different conditions and medications and community outreach.
As the home to the only School of Pharmacy in North Dakota, NDSU is able to have pharmacy students develop those patient materials and travel to pharmacies to provide training, giving the students training and experience as well.
“This utilizes the talents of the students, while helping bring forth the initiatives,” said Mark J. Hardy, NDSU alumnus and executive director of the North Dakota Board of Pharmacy.
It also enables the university to share research findings with the profession through CAP Center outreach, helping keep them updated, something that is instrumental in public health as well as economically for pharmacies, Hardy explained.
Expansion of services can help pharmacies remain economically viable in communities across the state.
“In rural communities the pharmacy is a frontline healthcare hub and important to improving health outcomes for its citizens,” said Randy Seifert, NDSU alumnus and Pharmacy Alumni Advisory Board member. “A viable pharmacy is also a cornerstone of Main Street vitality. When a small community pharmacy thrives, the community gains not only accessible care, but also economic value, jobs and everyday connection important to rural life.”
As the CAP Center helps pharmacies across the state meet healthcare industry needs, the need for long-term funding continues to rise.
To address this need and continue to expand services to benefit the residents of North Dakota, the CAP Center is sharing what an endowment could do for its efforts, by creating an ongoing source of funding.
A $25,000 gift would provide $1,000 a year to support travel for students to bring care and training to new communities. A $125,000 gift would provide $5,000 a year to help fund scholarships for students working on CAP Center Initiatives. And a $250,000 gift would provide $10,000 a year to help fuel pilot projects that test and expand new care models.
Programming and support from the CAP Center reaches over 90% of North Dakota pharmacies, according to Skoy.
To support the CAP Center connect with the NDSU Foundation today.