CVS/pharmacy opens its first pharmacy in Washington state

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy celebrated on Monday its entrance into the Seattle market with the grand opening of a new location in the city of Renton, marking the first CVS/pharmacy in the state of Washington.



"We are pleased to open our first store in Washington State and bring CVS/pharmacy's best-in-class patient-centered medication management programs, wellness services, preventive and chronic disease management, and high quality health, beauty and personal care offerings to the Seattle market," said Helena Foulkes, president of CVS/pharmacy. "As we grow our presence in Seattle, we look forward to helping our new customers on their path to better health."



 CVS/pharmacy is the retail division of CVS Caremark, whose operations in Washington include a CarePlus Specialty Pharmacy in Seattle, two Coram ambulatory specialty infusion sites in Seattle and Spokane Valley and several CVS Caremark Pharmacy Services PBM clients. With the addition of its retail locations in Seattle, CVS Caremark can now offer the market its full range of integrated pharmacy programs and services.

    

Among those joining CVS/pharmacy officials for the grand opening celebration in Renton, Wash., were Bob Crittenden, senior health policy advisor to Gov. Jay Inslee; State Reps. Eric Pettigrew and Steve Bergquist; and Renton mayor Denis Law.



During the grand opening event, CVS/pharmacy made a $10,000 donation to Renton's Community Activity Nutrition Network, which works to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity through the promotion of healthy activities and nutrition. The donation will be used to support the development of a community garden that will provide healthy eating choices for Renton's low income and senior populations.   



In addition to the new store in Renton, Wash., the company will open two more Seattle-area stores this year and will open its first store in the city of Seattle next summer. With its entrance into Seattle, CVS/pharmacy now has a presence in all 20 top drug store markets in the United States.



Also, as part of CVS/pharmacy's announcement earlier this year that all of its stores will stop selling tobacco products by this October, all new stores that have opened since April do not carry tobacco, making its Renton, Wash., store one the first CVS/pharmacy locations to be tobacco-free.