Movers & Shakers: Rite Aid CEO departs, Oak Street Health taps new officer role
Welcome to Movers and Shakers, a roundup of the latest executive movements in the healthcare industry.
Rite Aid CEO departs
Rite Aid has named Elizabeth “Busy” Burr as interim CEO, effective immediately, after the sudden departure of CEO and President Heyward Donigan, who resigned.
Rite Aid, which operates more than 2,300 retail pharmacy locations in 17 states, has initiated a permanent CEO and retained a leading executive search firm.
“As the Company continues its efforts to enhance its competitive position in this dynamic environment, the Board determined and Heyward agreed that now is the right time to identify the next leader of the business,” Bruce Bodaken, Rite Aid chairman, said in a statement. “With a deep understanding of the industry and our strategy, the Board was unanimous in its belief that Busy is highly qualified to serve as interim CEO while the Board conducts a search for a permanent successor.”
Burr previously served as vice president, head of health ventures and chief innovation officer at Humana. She also most recently served as president and chief commercial officer at Carrot, Inc. She also formerly served as managing director of Citi Ventures and global head of business incubation of Citigroup, as well as entrepreneur-in-residence at eBay.
Rite Aid did not publish a reason for Donigan’s departure.
“It has been a privilege to lead Rite Aid and its exceptional team,” Donigan said. “I am proud of all that we have achieved together, and I believe that the company is well positioned for the future.”
At the same time, Rite Aid also announced it reaffirmed its 2023 guidance for total revenues between $23.7 billion and $24.0 billion, net loss between $584 million and $551 million.
Oak Street Health names first chief wellness officer
Deb Edberg, MD, has been named the first chief wellness officer of Oak Street Health, a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare.
Edberg will support provider wellness in the new role. She joins the company as a family medicine physician and is an expert in Oak Street Health’s care model and patient population. She previously developed and launched Rush’s Family Medicine Residency and Northwestern/Erie’s Family Medicine Residency Chicago-based programs. She most recently served as associate professor and the director of graduate medical education development for the Rush University Department of Family Medicine.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."