Though many Americans face difficulties accessing certain health care providers, almost everyone can easily get to a pharmacy. Lucas Berenbrok, associate professor in the School of Pharmacy, focuses on how pharmacies can be entry points or delivery centers for certain aspects of health care.
A common talking point in the pharmacy field is that 90% of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, but it was difficult to determine where the statistic came from. Berenbrok worked with colleagues in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science to map the approximately 62,000 pharmacies in the United States to confirm that talking point.
“Pharmacies are in every neighborhood, and they’re open on nights, weekends [and] holidays, when some other health care providers might not be open,” says Berenbrok. “People look to pharmacies as a place where they can get health care and wellness support.”
“People look to pharmacies as a place where they can get health care and wellness support.”
But with pharmacies rapidly closing across the country, Berenbrok’s work is becoming even more relevant. Areas without a pharmacy, known as pharmacy deserts, are typically in medically underserved areas, and more pharmacies closing could lead to even larger health disparities. In a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in March 2025, Berenbrok and his colleagues found that 17.7% of Americans live in pharmacy deserts and an additional 8.9% rely on a single pharmacy for access. This means that a single pharmacy closure could have a lasting impact on a community’s health.
“We’ve applied our map to a variety of over-the-counter health care needs you can access at pharmacies,” says Berenbrok. “We are able to show that when things are available at a community pharmacy, people can access them more easily than if they are only available at other health care facilities.”