CVS (Woonsocket, R.I.) has appointed its Executive VP Karen Lynch as its new President and CEO, Retail Dive reports. Lynch is also currently the President of the Aetna health insurance unit and will assume the President and CEO position for CVS this Feb. 1, 2021. She will replace Larry Merlo who has led CVS for the past 10 years, beginning his career at the copmany as a pharmacist more than 40 years ago. Merlo will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors until his official retirement in May 2021.
Lynch joined Aetna in 2012 and has previously held executive positions at Cigna and Magellan Health Services.
David W. Dorman, Chair of the Board of CVS Health Corp., said in a press release, "This leadership transition comes at the right time for CVS Health. This month marks the two year anniversary as one company, with our foundation clearly established and significant positive momentum across the company … As Larry has been transparent with us about his overall plans, we were able to put a thorough, multi-year process in place to consider and evaluate internal and external candidates. That process led to the selection of Karen Lynch. Larry's collaboration with Karen in the coming months will ensure an effective leadership transition."