Our pharmacy teams make a difference in their communities every day. The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the important role of pharmacy but also demanded more of teams than ever before, bringing long-standing challenges to the forefront.
The status quo is no longer good enough. That's why we’re charting a new future — to help make CVS Pharmacy® the retail pharmacy employer of choice.
By making bold changes and sustained investments, we’re fostering a more balanced, positive work environment for our pharmacy teams.
Patient safety is our top priority
Our company, including our 30,000 pharmacists and 70,000 pharmacy technicians, is committed to supporting patient safety and high-quality care. We continue to invest in and improve upon our excellent safety record, including using technology to support our pharmacy teams.
Most importantly, we listen to and value the feedback of our pharmacy colleagues who work with our patients each and every day.
Updates
From Prem Shah, EVP, Chief Pharmacy Officer, and President of Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness, CVS Health®
Our store-based teams are the heart of our company. Every day our dedicated pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and front store colleagues work to provide our patients and consumers with high quality care and outstanding service.
Recently, an article in USA Today discussed the tragic death of one of our colleagues. All of us at CVS Health were deeply saddened by the death of Ashleigh Anderson in September 2021. She was an outstanding pharmacist who was committed to her patients, respected by her co-workers and served her community.
As we reflect on this article, I want to stress that my leadership team and I are deeply committed to a few guiding principles. We are:
- Fostering a culture of safety for our patients, customers and colleagues
- Creating an environment built on two-way dialogue
- Elevating and advancing the practice of pharmacy
Because of what our store-based teams have told us, we are making sustained investments to provide a more balanced, positive work environment. This includes enhancing technology to support patient safety, introducing digital innovations that improve the customer experience and help balance workload, maintaining staffing hours even during slower periods, increasing wages and bonuses and creating a more sustainable reimbursement model.
I am proud of the work we do and honored to lead this team.
Investing in our colleagues
Community pharmacy is a challenging industry, and it has been for some time. The practice of pharmacy is important, but the hours are long, and the margins are slim. Historically, operators have had to make tough decisions to maintain access to care for patients, while creating more efficiency in labor and operating models.
That is why we are taking a different approach, with bold changes and innovations that will help create a more vibrant community pharmacy business. It will ensure continued investment in our colleagues to address their biggest pain points.
Steps we're taking
We’re enabling pharmacy teams to schedule additional support as needed, enhancing recruitment and strengthening pharmacy technician training. We’re also introducing innovative tools to support workload and workflow, enabling our pharmacy teams to better focus on patient care.
Since 2021, we’ve invested roughly $1 billion in wage increases and, in 2024, we’re awarding tens of millions of dollars in bonuses to recognize and thank our pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
We’re ensuring we have the right stores in the right locations and reassigning impacted colleagues to nearby stores and pharmacies to better support our patients and teams.
We’re focused on supporting the next generation of pharmacists with our pharmacy tuition assistance and scholarship programs. Learn more about our investment.
Our pharmacy at a glance
90%
of consumers say they trust their local pharmacist
85%
of Americans live within 10 miles of a CVS Pharmacy®
14M
weekly CVS Pharmacy interactions
45M
immunizations delivered in 2023
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