Walgreens plans expansion with Take Care to hire several executive team members

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. In-store clinic operator Take Care Health Systems, which is owned by Walgreens, has unveiled aggressive expansion plans that include the hiring of several executive team members.

The news comes on the heels of the opening of its operations center in Fargo, N.D., on Sept. 24. The facility brings 43 new positions to the company in the areas of recruiting, billing, customer service and credentialing. It serves as the cornerstone to the company’s expanded national growth over the next 12 months.

This fall, the company is opening clinics in nine new markets, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Tampa and Tucson. Combined with expansion in its existing markets of Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee and St. Louis, up to 100 new clinics are planned by year’s end. Take Care stated that it is on track to open 400 clinics by the end of next year.

To further support its growth strategy, Take Care has hired several senior executives.

• Heather Helle has joined Take Care as the chief operating officer, reporting to Peter Miller, president and chief executive officer. In her new role, Helle will lead and direct the operations, human resources, marketing, medical and nursing business lines within Take Care. Helle is a former executive with McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson & Johnson.
• Kim Rhodes, former senior vice president and general counsel for Ecount, a Citi company, has been hired as chief strategist. The position is a dual role working with Hal Rosenbluth, chairman and senior strategy consultant for Walgreens, on Walgreens strategic initiatives while concurrently leading strategic direction for Take Care.
• Dell Williams, former vice president of health care industry relations for Aramark Healthcare, has been named senior director of marketing and strategy. Williams will report to Helle.
• Iris Melendez has joined Take Care as senior director of education and development. Previously, Melendez worked for J&J, where she served as the global lead for a human resources transformation initiative. Melendez reports to Margery Geers, the chief people officer who joined the company earlier this year.

Walgreens had September sales of $4.4 billion, an increase of 9.5 percent for the same month in 2006. The company opened 18 stores during September, including two relocations, and acquired one store. It opened its 6,000th store in New Orleans and will celebrate the grand opening in October.