The abrupt end of the Roz Brewer era at Walgreens Boots Alliance and appointment of Ginger Graham as interim chief executive officer serves as a lens for bringing into focus the current state of the company, the urgent challenges that need to be addressed, and the expanded role that WBA envisions for itself in health care.

Ginger Graham

Viewed from one perspective, last month’s announcement that Brewer — who was named CEO in March 2021 — and the board of directors agreed to part ways should come as no surprise. During her tenure, the price of the company’s stock declined more than 50%, a performance that left Brewer in a difficult position. In fairness, it was a tough period for all publicly traded drug chains. For example, CVS Health’s shares fell 25% over that span.

Brewer got off to a somewhat slow start in creating a road map for WBA. COVID was rampant at the time she took the helm, and contending with the shock waves caused by the pandemic occupied much of her time and attention. To her credit, Brewer ensured that Walgreens drug stores continued to serve patients and front-end consumers throughout the emergency, and the drug chain emerged as a primary source for COVID immunizations. Thus far, Walgreens has administered more than 70 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, and done so in a manner that did not endanger the health of store-level workers.

Another obstacle that Brewer — who prior to joining WBA served as chief operating officer at Starbucks and CEO at Sam’s Club — had to overcome was her lack of experience in health care. While Sam’s Club does operate pharmacies, Brewer’s expertise was in retailing, and it took several months for her to develop a coherent plan for Walgreens and the company’s other pharmacy businesses — Boots in the United Kingdom, Benavides in Mexico and Ahumada in Chile.

When she did finally unveil her strategy in October 2021, Brewer presented a thoughtful plan of attack that promised to make the consumer the focal point of all of WBA’s efforts, extend the company’s reach across the continuum of care, and leverage technology to make the patient journey easier and less costly. The centerpiece of the strategy involved three acquisitions — primary, urgent and multispecialty care provider VillageMD; CareCentrix, a platform that coordinates care delivered in the home; and Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy integrator for health systems. By aligning those assets with Walgreens’ core pharmacy business, Brewer intended to better position the company to meet a broad range of patients’ health care needs.

The strategy was sound, but it took longer than anticipated to come together. A year elapsed before John Driscoll, who had been CEO of CareCentrix, was named to head WBA’s U.S. Healthcare segment, which is charged with integrating the newly acquired assets and developing synergies throughout the organization. WBA also encountered some operational challenges stemming from the pandemic.

With the selection of Ginger Graham as interim CEO, the board seems intent on addressing those issues. In announcing her appointment, executive chairman Stefano Pessina cited Graham’s extensive health care experience and operational ­expertise.

Graham — formerly CEO of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company focused on diabetes care, and the lead independent director on the WBA board — also emphasized those areas of concentration. “By capitalizing fully on the strength of WBA’s strong mission, values and brand, we have an enormous opportunity to play an even more valued role in local health care delivery. My focus will be on our people and our operations, working together to drive shareholder value ­creation.”

The transition to a new CEO comes at a pivotal moment for WBA and the health care sector as a whole. Brewer’s departure was preceded a month earlier by the resignation of chief financial officer James Kehoe, who subsequently joined FIS Global, a financial services technology company. (WBA named Manmohan Mahajan, senior vice president and global controller, to serve as interim CFO.) The absence of permanent leadership at the top makes Wall Street nervous; WBA needs to ensure that the process of finding successors to Brewer and Kehoe moves expeditiously. Equally important, the pace of change in pharmacy and health care is accelerating rapidly. Stakeholders are coming to the realization that current models for caring for the sick and supporting the well-being of other Americans are not sustainable. High costs, difficulty in accessing services and a growing shortage of primary care physicians all point to a bigger role for community pharmacies.

A brand synonymous with pharmacy care, some 8,700 stores in the U.S., solid digital capabilities and a strong portfolio of other health care assets position Walgreens to step up and help fill the void. With other powerful players vying to secure their place in the evolving health care marketplace, WBA’s new CEO will have to move quickly to capitalize on the ­opportunity.