BURNABY, British Columbia — Peoples Drug Mart plans to cease operations this month as a pharmacy group. Interim chief executive officer Mark Dickson said Friday that the 45 independently owned stores in the Peoples Drug Mart network will operate under new banners. Dickson attribued Peoples’ demise after 41 years to the continued squeeze on pharmacy
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Aaron Wiese has been promoted to vice president of strategy/innovation at Hy-Vee Inc., where he will help develop new health, wellness and pharmacy strategies. He had been an assistant vice president of Hy-Vee and president of Amber Pharmacy. As a result of Wiese’s move to the executive ranks, Mike Agostino
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Veteran CVS Health executive Jon Roberts has been named the company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, a new position. CVS said Thursday that Roberts, who was president of the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefits management unit, will continue to report to CVS Health president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo. As
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Pharmacy is pivotal to the national reckoning about health care, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores is highlighting its place by advancing a pro-pharmacy and pro-patient agenda. That was the message of industry leaders at the NACDS Regional Chain Conference, with pharmacy-based answers to national uncertainties emerging as a
WASHINGTON — The acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. by Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Inc. remained unconsummated after WBA’s plan to divest 865 stores failed to erase antitrust regulators’ competitive concerns. When the Friday, January 27, deadline for completing the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger deal arrived, the Federal Trade Commission still hadn’t cleared the transaction, despite the
WASHINGTON — Pharmacist provider status legislation was reintroduced in the House of Representatives last month with the original bipartisan cosponsorship of nearly one-quarter of the members. The Senate bill had been reintroduced eight days earlier. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores thanked lead House sponsors Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.), G.K. Butterfield (D., N.C.), Tom
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — John Furner has been named president and chief executive officer of Sam’s Club. He succeeds Rosalind Brewer, who is retiring effective February 1. Furner has been chief merchandising officer at Sam’s Club, with responsibility for global sourcing, packaging and private brands. He was named to the post in October 2015. Before that
DEERFIELD, Ill. — As president of pharmacy and retail operations at Walgreens, Richard Ashworth has helped point the chain in a new direction. The change, both at the company’s support office and in stores, has given the retailer a major boost. Measures ranging from net promoter scores to on-time prescriptions to in-stock levels are up
CHICAGO — Walgreens has opened a vision care center at its Magnificent Mile store in the Wrigley Building in Chicago. The Walgreens Optical department offers comprehensive eye exams from independent, fully licensed optometrists and opticians, advanced lenses from leading companies, a full selection of variably priced frames, and clear and simple pricing. The retailer believes
WASHINGTON — Republicans want to replace the Affordable Care Act with “universal access” to health care, House GOP members said. The goal is to ensure that everyone can buy or find coverage, a House leadership aide said at a briefing organized by top Republicans. The briefing came amid growing concern about the 20 million people
HARTFORD, Conn. — Twenty states have accused six generic drug manufacturers of price fixing. The states’ attorneys general also said their lawsuit, filed in federal court here, may be just the start of a much broader legal action. The suit charges that the drug makers, led by New Jersey-based Heritage Pharmaceuticals, conspired to artificially elevate
KEASBEY, N.J. — Chris Lane has been promoted to executive vice president of Wakefern Food Corp. He had been senior vice president of product divisions. Lane, a 13-year Wakefern veteran and former vice president of pharmacy at Duane Reade, will guide day-to-day operations and strategy planning. “Our goal was to select an individual who would
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer Inc. president Rick Keyes has added the title of chief executive officer. Keyes took the CEO reins effective January 1. He succeeded Hank Meijer, who has become executive chairman of Meijer, which operates 230 supercenters and grocery stores, with pharmacies, in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. “We have
DEERFIELD, Ill. — In a country where health care is rife with wasted time and money, Walgreens is committed to making pharmacy more efficient. One measure of the practice’s current inefficiency, says Alex Gourlay, co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., is the large number of prescriptions that need additional authorization on the way
