Personnel Updates

• CVS Health announced that Nancy Christal, Senior VP Investor Relations, will retire this summer. She will be replaced by VP Investor Relations Mike McGuire.

• The Kroger Co. has expanded the role of The Little Clinic President Colleen Lindholz, naming her President of its Pharmacy division. She takes over for Philecia Avery, who recently resigned.

• National Association of Chain Drug Stores elected Alex Gourlay as the new Chairman. In addition, Mark Panzer was elected Vice Chairman, and Helena Foulkes was elected Treasurer.

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Diplomat Pharmacy announced it has acquired WRB Communications, a Chantilly, VA-based health care service company that specializes in relationship management programs for pharmaceutical manufacturers and health care service organizations.

Industry Insight

• The Bartell Drug Company announced that its customers who are Amazon Prime members can now choose from a wide selection of local wines and craft beers and receive free two-hour delivery through Prime Now.

• CVS Health has opened seven hearing and five optical centers (store-within-stores) in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area, with plans to expand to 50 locations by the end of 2017.

• CVS Health announced it will remove parabens, phthalates and the most prevalent formaldehyde donors across nearly 600 beauty and personal care products from its store brand CVS Health, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty, and Blade product lines.

• Kmart Pharmacy and The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America have expanded their partnership, whereby Kmart will conduct free memory screenings in all of its locations throughout the country in May.

• Marsh Supermarkets has closed all 37 of its Indiana in-store pharmacies. All prescription information and inventory will be transferred to CVS Health.

• The Jean Coutu Group Inc. announced that the high-end skin care and makeup brand Clinique will soon be available across all of its stores.