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CVS Head Says Supplies Adequate, Protecting Workers Is Priority

CVS Head Says Supplies Adequate, Protecting Workers Is Priority

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The chief executive officer and president of CVS Health Corp. runs a company with almost 10,000 U.S. locations and some 300,000 employees engaged in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

CVS is looking to hire 50,000 full-time or part-time workers to deal with the increased demand at its stores. The company has waived charges on home delivery of prescriptions, and it’s moving a prototype testing center at a pharmacy drive-thru lane in Shrewsbury, Mass., to a larger lot nearby.

How is worker safety?

We’ve been working around the clock to provide PPE [personal protective equipment] and other safety measures, and including protective panels at our pharmacies and front store checkouts. We are offering to help employees with dependent-care needs, while providing sick leave to part-time employees for the duration of the pandemic.

What else are you doing for them?

We have a number of things to provide some peace of mind. For example, we’re providing cash bonuses to our pharmacists, other health-care professionals who are on the front lines—including our store associates and managers—and other individuals.

Is the supply chain holding up?

Our supply chain team is doing a great job working with suppliers—creatively, and fast and furious—to keep our shelves stocked. We have not experienced any disruption to date. We have been in constant contact with our suppliers. They tend to carry about a three- to six-month supply. Americans can be reassured the pharmaceutical supply chain is in good shape.

How’s the parking lot experiment going?

We’re doing about 150 tests per day, largely targeting health-care workers and local first responders. We’re working with state officials on how we can begin to test more broadly. This is a one-drive-thru location. If we’re in a larger parking lot—where many of the other facilities are closed—you’d have three or four drive-thru lanes and the ability to do exponentially more tests. We’re working to get a testing site up with multiple drive-thru lanes, so we can do many more tests, anywhere from 500 to 1,000 a day, where individuals can know results within an hour.
 
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