Personnel Updates
Kroger announced Mike Donnelly was promoted to Exec VP Merchandising, Chris Hjelm was promoted to Exec VP and CIO, Fred Morganthall was promoted to Exec VP Retail Operations, and Mike Schlotman has been promoted to Exec VP and CFO.
Industry Insight
Bartell Drugs opened two new CareClinic retail clinics in Sammamish and Seattle, WA. With the new additions, Bartell Drugs has five CareClinic locations in its stores.
Cardinal Health released its new line of home health products, Hospital Quality at Home, to help caregivers transition from the hospital to home. Select Hospital Quality at Home products are available nationally via Amazon.com and locally at certain Meijer Pharmacy and Bartell Drugs locations in the Midwest and Washington.
CVS Health announced that it would be partnering with three telehealth companies to expand its current offerings. The company will be working with American Well, Doctor On Demand and Teladoc to explore how retail clinic providers, retail pharmacy and telehealth providers can collaborate to improve patient care.
Hy-Vee announced that it would be placing retail clinics in two new Twin Cities-area stores opening in September. The clinics in the New Hope and Oakdale stores have teamed with North Memorial Health Care, whose physician assistants and nurses will staff the North Memorial Express Clinics.
McKesson and Albertsons announced the signing of a five-year distribution agreement to include the sourcing and distribution of both branded and generic pharmaceuticals, commencing on April 1, 2016 to Albertsons’ network of nearly 1,700 pharmacies.
Raley’s Family of Fine Stores will debut a new, small-format store in the Sacramento, CA, market in 2017 that focuses on health and wellness. The 36,000 sq. ft. store is scheduled to begin construction in mid-2016.
Walgreens and its Duane Reade subsidiary inked a deal with Postmates that will provide urbanites across 30 markets on-demand delivery service. Postmates’ “drugstore on-demand” will be available 24/7 and can be accessed right from the iOS and Android app.
Walgreens and Providence Health & Services recently announced a strategic clinical collaboration, which plans to bring up to 25 new retail clinics to Oregon and Washington. The clinics will be owned and operated by Providence and its affiliates, and will become the first to open at Walgreens stores under a new collaborative services model. The clinics will be called Providence Express Care at Walgreens, or Swedish Express Care at Walgreens in the Seattle area. Walgreens and Providence will open three clinics in both the Portland and Seattle areas in early 2016, with plans for further expansion within the next two years.
