CVS to buy Red Cross Pharmacies

Fulton store included in sale

Red Cross Pharmacy in Fulton's downtown Brick District is one of 14 in the chain. This week, CVS Pharmacy officials announced plans to buy the chain beginning in June.
Red Cross Pharmacy in Fulton's downtown Brick District is one of 14 in the chain. This week, CVS Pharmacy officials announced plans to buy the chain beginning in June.

Red Cross Pharmacy Inc. officials announced plans this week to sell its 14 retail pharmacies to CVS Pharmacy.

The sale includes the downtown Fulton store.

"I feel like it will be a smooth transition," pharmacy manager John L. Keener said.

Red Cross Pharmacy Inc. is also selling outlets in Marshall, Salisbury, Kearney, Excelsior Springs, Odessa, Warrensburg, Grain Valley, Macon, Lexington, Plattsburg, Richmond and Carrollton.

CVS Pharmacy stated in a press release plans to operate in the same locations with the same staff in all markets except for Grain Valley and Kearney, where the files will be transferred to the closest CVS Pharmacy store.

CVS Pharmacy's acquisition of Red Cross Pharmacy locations is expected to begin in June and be completed mid-July. The pharmacies will be converted and rebranded as CVS Pharmacy.

"All along, our mission has been to be the best employee-minded, patient-focused pharmacy service driven pharmacy organization," said Scott Hartwig, president and CEO of Red Cross Pharmacy. "While I believe we have done a great job in accomplishing this, it has become increasingly difficult to provide quality pharmacy care under the current payment model. It is time to pass our retail business to a company with more resources that can take it to the next level of care."

He also said customers and patients will benefit from having a wider range of products and services available and continued pharmacy care from familiar faces.

"CVS Pharmacy looks forward to bringing its innovative pharmacy care programs and services to Red Cross Pharmacy patients in Missouri," said Wayne Lum, region director, CVS Pharmacy. "We will continue to provide excellent care to patients and look forward to introducing our industry-leading offerings at these new locations."

CVS Pharmacy offers unique clinical pharmacy services, medication adherence programs, automatic refills to help patients take their medications on time and as directed, immunizations, text alerts to inform patients when their prescriptions are ready, and other digital tools to help patients manage their prescriptions.