The highly-anticipated NACDS Annual Meeting brought together decision makers and executives—from retailers, suppliers and other healthcare and consumer goods partners—for an exceptional chance to build relationships, connect and engage.
There is a huge opportunity for pharmacy to step in and meet unmet needs by saving costs through adding services to patients that they’re not getting elsewhere…
The conference lived up to its reputation as a “one-of-a-kind” place to collaborate and foster strategic partnership. Distinguished by renowned speakers and high-energy events, the conference effectively facilitated top-to-top business and strategic exchanges that strengthened relationships and led to solid and productive outcomes.
Newly-elected NACDS Board Chairman Martin Otto, chief merchant and chief financial officer of H-E-B, discussed the challenges the industry is facing as the healthcare landscape changes dramatically. He said, “There is a huge opportunity for pharmacy to step in and meet unmet needs by saving costs through adding services to patients that they’re not getting elsewhere and, in so doing, improving healthcare…”
Ending his term as NACDS Chairman, Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president of Hy-Vee, Inc., commended NACDS and said an association’s value is measured “by what it provides to our community and to our patients, to the people that we care for, and to society in general.”
NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, said, “…when you walk into an NACDS meeting you can feel the excitement and the energy in the room of competitors coming together, collaborating for the common good of the industry and—most importantly—for the American people.”
A series of Strategic Exchange Appointments and a comprehensive Meet the Retailer program were among many of the innovative and interactive features augmenting the excellent line-up of sessions on the agenda.
The conference concluded with a presentation of the Robert B. Begley Award to highly respected industry icon, Tim Hayes, who has been with Bayer Consumer Health for nearly 25 years—including 15 years as president. The Robert B. Begley Award was established in 1980 and named in memory of former NACDS Chairman of the Board Robert B. Begley. The award honors an individual who possesses qualities of great personal warmth, generous spirit and longtime service to the industry.
Now that the NACDS Annual Meeting has concluded successfully, the focus turns toward the NACDS Total Store Expo in Boston, August 6–9.
View highlights from the NACDS Annual Meeting on NACDS-TV, and photos on the NACDS Annual Meeting Flickr album.
