McKesson Canada names new president

ST-LAURENT, Quebec -- McKesson Canada on Monday named Paula Keays president, effective immediately.



"I have worked alongside Paula for over 15 years, I've been impressed by her vision, drive and commitment to operational excellence," stated Paul Julian, EVP and group president McKesson Canada. "Our customers, business partners and employees will be well served by her leadership style, deep understanding of health care and passion for customer service."



"I am honoured to be taking on my new role as president of McKesson Canada," Keays said.  "Canada's health care environment is becoming increasingly complex. Together with our people and our partners I'm looking forward to leading through an important moment in our history as we focus on our customers to deliver better value and patient care for Canadians from coast-to-coast."



In her new role, Keays will lead 4,000 employees and be responsible for McKesson's distribution solutions offerings in Canada, including pharmaceutical distribution, pharmacy technology, specialty pharmacy and infusion, procurement and independent retail banner solutions. Keays will report to Julian and will be responsible for driving sales, marketing and operations for the business.



Prior to this appointment, Keays served as McKesson Canada's SVP pharmaceutical distribution and operations. In this position, she led one of McKesson Canada's largest portfolios and was responsible for sales, marketing and operations. Under Keays' leadership, McKesson Canada successfully advanced its network optimization, which has helped deliver significant operational efficiencies and improvements to the overall business. She also drove the design and introduction of important sales and operations team initiatives which has enhanced customer service, strengthened business partnership and created shared success for customers across Canada.



Since joining McKesson in 2000, Keays has held increasingly senior positions, including VP and corporate controller; VP and CFO; and SVP, CFO and Six Sigma.



Until a new SVP pharmaceutical distribution and operations is appointed, Keays will continue to oversee the operations of the pharmaceutical distribution and operations portfolio in addition to her responsibilities as president.