Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer said the company will finalize its majority ownership of home-centered platform Carecentrix by the third quarter of this year.
Brewer told investors during a virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Tuesday that the addition of Carecentrix will help Walgreens fully transform itself from a retail pharmacy to a health and well-being company.
“We are building a differentiated, consumer-centric, technology-enabled healthcare business that will fuel our acceleration to sustainable low teens [earnings per share] growth after fiscal 2024,” Brewer said.
Last October, Walgreens bought a controlling stake in Carecentrix, an independent home-centered platform that coordinates the delivery of healthcare to the home through durable equipment, home infusion and in-home palliative care.
Carecentrix is the third leg of Walgreens healthcare strategy that includes a majority stake in primary care firm VillageMD and the establishment of Walgreens Health Corners, which provides customers in-store consultation on medical and pharmaceutical issues.
Brewer said Tuesday that Walgreens has accelerated the pace of co-located VillageMD practices within Walgreens retail stores. There are currently 81 co-located VillageMD practices in Walgreens locations, with plans to open a store every three days this year. VillageMD also offers in-home primary care and telehealth visits.
“We have a clear line of sight to $9 to $10 billion in sales for Walgreens Health by 2025. We now expect sales of $2.6 billion in fiscal 2022, Brewer added.
Walgreens’ efforts to dive into healthcare mirror those of competitor CVS, which operates Minute Clinics in its stores and also provides telemedicine. In a separate J.P. Morgan virtual conference Tuesday morning, CVS President and CEO Karen Lynch said the company planned to move deeper into the home but offered no specifics on what that might include.
