Walgreens veteran Young to retire; Merten stepping into compliance role

DEERFIELD, Ill. Walgreens has named 21-year company veteran Laura Merten divisional VP compliance, loss prevention and profit sharing. She replaces Chester Young, who is retiring at the end of January after 41 years with the company.

Merten, 49, also will replace Young as the company’s chief compliance officer while continuing her role as Walgreens’ privacy officer.

Merten joined Walgreens as an attorney in 1988 and was promoted to director of new business development in 2000. She was named the company’s privacy officer in 2002 and promoted to director of Walgreens Health Services’ legal division in 2004. Merten was promoted to divisional VP health law in 2007.

Filling that vacancy is Bryan Schneider, director of healthcare contracting and regulatory law since 2008. Schneider, 42, joined Walgreens in 2000 as a senior attorney in corporate and regulatory law. In 2005, he was promoted to Walgreens Health Services director of government affairs.

Young, 64, joined Walgreens in 1968 as a marketing analyst. After several promotions, he was named general auditor in 1988 and became a divisional VP in 1995. He added the title of chief compliance officer in 1999.

“Chet has had an outstanding career at Walgreens,” said Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson. “In particular, he’s created a closer relationship between our operations folks and loss prevention, and he’s recognized as a leader in the loss prevention industry. We wish him all the best in retirement.”

In a separate move, Walgreens said Monday it has hired banking and finance veteran Paul Eddy as divisional VP of pharmacy applications, reporting to chief information officer Tim Theriault. Eddy, 46, “will support the needs of the company’s pharmacy business and initiatives, including its Intercom Plus pharmacy system,” Walgreens reported.

Eddy previously was SVP and director of technology strategy and governance at PNC Financial Services.