About Us

Founded in 1977 as the California Pharmacists Association Educational Foundation (a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation), the organization began "doing business as" the Pharmacy Foundation of California (PFC) in 2004.  This change was made to better reflect the organization’s mission of serving the pharmacy-related needs of the California public. While the organization's name may have changed, its mission continues to be what is described in its original articles of incorporation  "to improve and protect public health by collaborating with government agencies, public and private foundations, and educational institutions to conduct research, education and information dissemination."

A New Focus

In recent years, medication-related issues have attracted increasing amounts of public attention.  Given the aging of our population and the increasing incidence of chronic disease, this attention is only likely to grow as more and more Californian's find themselves depending on medications to maintain their health and quality of life.  While much of the attention paid to medications has thus far been focused on affordability, PFC's efforts are focused on promoting the safe and effective use of medications - particularly in the outpatient setting.  This stems from the organization's belief that the most expensive medication is the one that does not elicit the desired response, or worse, results in injury or death.

PFC's most visible effort in this regard has been its work with the California Medication Errors Panel.  This Panel was created in 2005 by Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 49 and performed much of its work during 2006 studying the causes of medication errors in the outpatient setting and developing recommendations on how such errors can be prevented.  During that time, PFC provided significant administrative support to the panel and helped develop its report which was released in March 2007.  More information on the Panel and its recommendations can be found at www.PharmacyFoundation.org/MedicationErrors.

Building on the success of this effort, PFC decided in August 2007 to make fighting medication errors its primary strategic focus.  Since it is a public benefit organization, PFC is looking to take a consumer-oriented approach to the problem and has consequently begun to focus all of its efforts around educating the public about the need for safer medication use practices. 

Moving Our Mission Forward

As the Foundation grows over the next few years, it hopes to serve its constituency in even better ways. In order for the Foundation to continue to be successful, we need your support. Providing relevant and valuable education programs and services will significantly improve the health and healthcare of Californians. Please join our cause by contacting us and offering your support through donations, suggestions and/or participation in our programs. We value your input!