(Bloomberg) -- Big US pharmacy chains were held up as a sign of progress a few years ago as three women became chief executive officers at the same time. But with Karen Lynch’s ouster Friday from CVS Health Corp., they now are all gone after each company struggled.
Lynch, Rosalind Brewer at Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Heyward Donigan at Rite Aid Corp. overlapped for 22 months from March 2021 to Donigan’s departure in January of last year. Brewer followed in August 2023.
Women still hold 45 CEO jobs in the S&P 500, likely near a record, including health care companies Centene Corp., Elevance Health Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and animal health medicine company Zoetis Inc.
Every time a woman is ousted, it doesn’t necessarily mean the system is broken, or that there is something wrong with “womanhood,” said Davia Temin, founder of New York crisis consultancy Temin and Company. “It means that the right person wasn’t in the right place at the right time with the right skills for this.”
Pharmacy retail is a tough business right now. Chains face competition from Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. that’s hurting profits. They are also dealing with labor shortages, driving up patient wait times and frustrating customers.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.