CVS Health makes pharmacy, consumer wellness leadership appointments
CVS Health announced that Len Shankman will be president, pharmacy and consumer wellness, reporting to Prem Shah, group president, CVS Health.
In addition, the company announced the appointment of Lucille Accetta, RPh, MPH, MBA as chief pharmacy officer, also reporting to Shah. Both appointments are effective immediately.
Shankman will oversee the front store and retail pharmacy businesses across the company’s more than 9,000 CVS Pharmacy locations. In his new role, Shankman will lead the team in continuing to deliver integrated digitally-led experiences that address consumer’s health and wellness needs.
Shankman joined CVS Health in 2002 and has held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently serving as senior vice president and chief financial officer, pharmacy and consumer wellness. Shankman has also held leadership positions in the company’s Specialty Pharmacy business and as general manager for Coram, the CVS Specialty infusion business. Before joining CVS Health, Shankman served in the United States Navy.
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“Len has a deep knowledge of our Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness business and our company, and his focus on strategy execution, operational strength, and financial performance will help us continue to lead in the market,” said CVS Health president and CEO David Joyner. “His disciplined, strategic guidance will further position CVS Pharmacy as a trusted resource for the communities we serve.”
As chief pharmacy officer, Accetta will advocate for the role of the pharmacist in health care and will be responsible for creating and implementing strategic opportunities to connect pharmacy assets across the CVS Health enterprise. She also will continue to oversee the Specialty Pharmacy, Coram and Omnicare businesses in her role as senior vice president, specialty pharmacy operations.
Since joining CVS Health in 2017, Accetta has held roles with increasing responsibility within the Specialty Pharmacy business. Prior to joining the company, she held leadership roles at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Rx Ally, Express Scripts and Medco, building her skills in patient services management, pharmacy product development and clinical operations.
“Our specialty pharmacy is entrusted with the care of people who are facing challenging and complex diagnoses, and Lucille leads with heart, driving the operational excellence our patients deserve along with instilling in our team an unwavering focus on caring for patients,” said Joyner. “Her passion and commitment to the practice of pharmacy make her an excellent advocate for the profession.”
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On its most recent earnings call, the company highlighted recent positive trends in the pharmacy and consumer wellness business:
"Our performance reflects strong execution and the benefit of strategic investments in both our workflows and our colleagues. We have achieved record high retail pharmacy prescription share of 27.3%. We continue to progress in the transition to the CVS CostVantage model, having reached agreements covering more than half of our total commercial prescriptions," the company said.