About Mission & UNC

Mission Health System

Mission Health System, Inc., based in Asheville, North Carolina, is the sixth largest health system in the state. The largest hospital in the health system, Mission Hospital in Asheville is licensed for 730 beds on its two adjoining campuses. In addition to serving as the primary hospital for Buncombe and Madison Counties, it serves as the referral center providing tertiary level care for the remaining 16 Western North Carolina counties and parts of adjoining states. The Health System also includes Blue Ridge Regional Hospital, which services Mitchell and Yancey Counties; McDowell Hospital, which services McDowell County; Mission Children’s Hospital, which provides specialty pediatric inpatient and outpatient care from two locations in Asheville; and Mission Medical Associates, which employs over 100 physicians.
Mission Health System has been nationally recognized for its excellence in patient care by a variety of national organizations including:

• 2010 – Named among the Top 100 Hospitals and Health Systems by Thomson Reuters


• 2010 – Mission Hospital became the first in N.C. to be named a Baby Friendly Hospital by the World Health Organization


• 2008-2010 – Mission Hospital’s heart program received the highest ranking by the Society for Thoracic Surgery


• 2008-2010 – ACCN Beacon award in Critical Care


• 2008 – ACCP Crystal APPLE award for excellence in experiential pharmacy education


• Read more about Mission's awards and recognition

Learn more about Asheville, NC

Department of Pharmacy
Our pharmacists are organized into clinical service lines. These groups exist so that they can develop extensive and specialized knowledge in their designated disciplines. Our pharmacists work in patient care areas and utilize their knowledge of medication products, pharmacotherapy and technology on a daily basis to improve the lives of patients that they serve.

Medication distribution is supported by an advanced integrated computer system, a brand new state-of the-art packaging and distribution center and decentralized medication dispensing machines on nursing floors. Clinical services include medication dosing, metabolic support services, multi-disciplinary rounds, patient teaching, and participation on the Code-Blue team. Pharmacists have access to a medical library located on our campus. Mission Hospital is a continuous learning environment. We are affiliated with UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and support MAHEC’s medical residencies in Family Practice, Obstetrics/Gynecology and Dentistry. Our location is in the heart of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and offers easy access to numerous recreational activities year round. Read more about Asheville.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the nation's first state university to open its doors and the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century.

The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is committed to advancing health care through innovation and collaboration in pharmacy practice, education, research, and public service. The School provides students with a wide range of opportunities. A world-class University, a model Area Health Education Center (AHEC) system, and an award-winning Hospital system, create one of the most dynamic centers of learning in the nation.

• U.S. News and World Report ranks the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy’s PharmD program in the top two in the nation
• In 2005, the School of Pharmacy received $5.8 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, ranking fourteenth among the nation’s pharmacy schools
• School of Pharmacy researchers received three NIH roadmap grants in 2005

Annually, the School educates 500 professional students and 100 graduate students, post-docs, residents, and fellows. School graduates work in many dynamic fields, including academia, pharmaceutical sales, drug development and research, community and health-system pharmacy, and long-term and managed-care pharmacy.

UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy—Asheville Campus
The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy is opening a satellite campus in Asheville. The satellite program will welcome its first class of twenty to twenty-five in fall 2011 with plans to enroll up to forty students in the future. These students will be based at UNC Asheville and receive classroom instructions from faculty at the Chapel Hill site via interactive, real-time video-teleconferencing technology, as well as from faculty based at Asheville. Upon completing all degree requirements, the students graduate with a doctor of pharmacy from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Currently, there are fourteen fourth-year professional students completing clinical rotations in the Mountain AHEC. The new Asheville campus will provide residents with even more opportunities to expand their teaching and precepting skills.

The UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
A portion of coursework in the Master of Science in Health-System Pharmacy will be taught by the faculty of the Department of Health Policy and Administration, so we thought prospective graduate students would benefit from learning about our colleagues at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Faculty at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health guide students in science-based research and studies. Students and faculty conduct groundbreaking research, and find ways to translate it into practice.

The school offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in traditional classrooms and through the latest distance-education technology. Facilities include a new state-of-the-art research center.

The School of Public Health has combined nearly 70 years of experience with a passion for teaching, research and practice, all in a crusade to improve local, national and global health. Their positive results help us remain a national leader, ranked the top public school of public health by U.S. News and World Report (2007). The School tied for second with Harvard in top schools of public health overall (including public and private universities). Schools of public health are ranked about every three years. The Department of Health Policy and Administration’s health services administration program was ranked 2nd best by U.S. News’ annual graduate school rankings (2003).