New Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan assumed the helm of the association pharmacy chain in August and spent the next seven months crafting a vast overhaul of the business. Just as she was set to reveal her strategic vision, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Rite Aid announced that it is expecting to add more testing areas in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, and Virginia in the coming weeks, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services.
Heyward Donigan spent seven months crafting a vast overhaul of Rite Aid Corp. after taking the helm of the beleaguered drugstore chain in August. Then, almost overnight, the pandemic upended her plans to unveil her essential vision.
Essential Vision
So Ms. Donigan set. She and her manager team—enclosed by hand sanitizer and sitting apart from one another—put out her turnaround plan via webcast to critics and investors last month “to show Rite Aid is moving forward no matter what,” she replied.
“I notice a great chance to revitalize the company’s status as a leader in meeting the health and wellness needs of clients and sufferers through our store and drugstore benefit administration platforms,” new Rite Aid CEO announced in a statement. “I look forward to working with the skilled Rite Aid team as we continue to promote the needs of our clients and patients and drive growth, increased production, and shareholder value.”
Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan took the helm of the city drugstore chain in August and used the next seven months crafting a vast overhaul of the business. Just as she was set to reveal her compelling vision, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Donigan ground by laying out her turnaround strategy via webcast to critics and investors last month “to give Rite Aid is moving forward no matter what.”
Rite Aid Strategy
Donigan is trading on a strategy that, in part, has the company’s pharmacologists working a more central role in tending to clients’ health-care needs—a move she says the pandemic is likely to stimulate. Meanwhile, Rite Aid is hiring 5,000 extra workers to help meet a coronavirus-fueled surge in business.
Rite Aid on Tuesday stated plans to open drive-through coronavirus trial sites outside stores in seven states, overseen by group pharmacologists. “My job is to keep our approach moving,” stated Donigan.
“Within, we let legislators know that work is going forward.” She noted that “the world is moving to telehealth, and that’s likely our future mode of clinical delivery. We also see this large rise in e-commerce. I assume that will proceed forever after this.”
Rite Aid had a fiscal income of more than $21 billion in its fiscal 2019 and today has 2,466 stores in 18 states. The organization also runs the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) EnvisionRxOptions.
