WOONSOCKET – CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) plans to shutter its mail-order pharmacy operations in Fort Worth, Texas, and Phoenix at year’s end, eliminating about 800 jobs, as the company continues its post-merger consolidation.
“The decision to consolidate these facilities was made after careful consideration and because of changing business demands and integration activities since the CVS and Caremark merger,” spokesman Michael J. DeAngelis told Providence Business News in an e-mail interview today.
The facilities are just two of many Caremark Pharmacy Services locations slated for closure in the wake of the $27 billion merger that CVS Corp. and Caremark Rx Inc. completed in March.
“Over the past several months, Caremark Pharmacy Services announced the consolidation of a number of its call center, mail pharmacy and specialty pharmacy sites in a variety of locations in Arizona, Ohio, Texas, Florida and Georgia, with effective dates beginning in September and running through early 2008,” DeAngelis said. He declined to disclose the costs and savings anticipated from the closures.
“In all instances, our HR team has worked closely with the affected employees to place them in other positions for which they are qualified within the company, including other Caremark facilities and CVS/pharmacy retail stores,” DeAngelis added. “Where other job opportunities are not possible, employees are eligible to receive a transition package to cover financial and health benefits, outplacement support and counseling.”
In Phoenix, the company expects to reassign about 100 of the mail-order center’s 432 workers and lay off the rest between Dec. 31 and March 31, The Arizona Republic reported last night.
Meanwhile, DeAngelis said, “teams are in place to ensure little to no disruption in mail pharmacy or call-center service to our clients and plan participants” during the streamlining of operations.
CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) operates the CVS/pharmacy stores; the CVS.com online pharmacy; Caremark Pharmacy Services; and the MinuteClinic retail-based health care subsidiary. Additional information is available at investor.cvs.com.
