Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please submit the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
Walgreens
Rosalind (Roz) Brewer took the reins as the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance on March 15. She also joined the board of directors.
Brewer is a 35-year consumer and retail industry veteran with deep experience in transformational, operational and digital strategies, officials said in a statement.
She succeeds Stefano Pessina, who transitioned to the role of executive chairman of the board.
Brewer most recently served as chief operating officer, group president and board member of Starbucks Corp. She was also formerly president and CEO of Sam’s Club, the members-only warehouse channel of Walmart Inc. She made history by becoming the first woman and first African American to lead a Walmart division and is currently ranked No. 27 on Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, officials said in a release.
She previously served as president of Walmart East. Prior to Walmart, she was with Kimberly-Clark Corp. for 22 years, starting as a scientist and ultimately serving as president of the Global Nonwovens Sector in 2004.
Brewer earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Spelman College and attended Wharton’s Advanced Management Program and Stanford University’s Directors’ College.
She is a former director of Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Molson Coors Beverage Company. She also chairs the board of trustees at Spelman College.
Gauss
(HHS)
Adm. Brett Giroir, M.D., the former White House COVID-19 testing czar under the Trump administration, is joining diagnostics company Gauss as its chief medical adviser.
Giroir was formerly assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Giroir joins Gauss as the company pursues emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its smartphone-powered, at-home COVID-19 rapid test. The goal, the company said, is to enable any American to accurately test themselves within 15 minutes, officials said in a statement.
“As a respected medical and public health leader, who led the unprecedented scale-up of our nation’s testing infrastructure through the pandemic, Dr. Giroir knows better than anyone the transformational potential of next-generation diagnostic platforms," said Siddarth Satish, founder and CEO of Gauss, in a statement.
Giroir is a pediatrician and a former four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Giroir earned his M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern and served his residency in pediatrics at Children's Medical Center Dallas and Parkland Memorial Hospital. He received his postdoctoral training at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Dallas.
Catholic Health
(Catholic Health)
Patrick O'Shaughnessy was named president and CEO of Rockville Centre, New York-based Catholic Health. He will begin the role on April 16.
O’Shaughnessy has served seven years as Catholic Health's executive vice president and chief medical officer. He succeeds Alan D. Guerci, M.D., who is retiring.
O’Shaughnessy previously served as assistant director of emergency medicine for Catholic Health’s St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. Later, he became director of emergency medicine for St. Catherine of Siena before being promoted to chief medical officer for the Smithtown hospital.
O’Shaughnessy held physician and faculty appointments at Beth Israel Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Hackensack University Medical Center and The Valley Hospital in New Jersey. He earned his medical degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and has two master’s degrees, one in business administration from Adelphi University and a second in population health management from Thomas Jefferson University. O’Shaughnessy is board certified in emergency medicine and healthcare quality and management.
> Komodo Health, a health data analytics company, announced the appointment of Laurent Bride as chief technology officer. He was most recently CTO at Talend.
> Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., who is president emeritus of the Association of American Medical Colleges, joined professional services firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP health group as a Washington, D.C.-based national adviser.
> Freespira, which makes the first FDA-cleared digital therapeutic to address symptoms of panic attacks, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, announced former Livongo exec Steve Schwartz joined the company's board of directors.
> Horizon BCSBNJ announced the retirement of Executive Chairman Kevin P. Conlin. Prior to becoming executive chairman, Conlin served as the company’s CEO and COO after first joining Horizon in 2012 as executive VP, healthcare management. Additional details about the announcement can be found in Horizon Health News.
> Vault, a performance healthcare technology platform and leader in saliva at-home COVID-19 testing as well as vaccine administration and distribution, announced it hired Ron Massey as chief people officer, Jordan Oelschlager as vice president of product management and Melissa Reed as vice president of government affairs.
> Regence BlueShield just announced it has named Claire Verity as its new Market President. Claire was most recently CEO of Pacific Northwest States for UnitedHealthcare.
> Former Senator Bob Kerrey joined Podimetrics’ board of scientific and health care industry advisors.