Walgreens cofounds new worksite health company

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. has signed a definitive agreement with Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic investor focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, in which Water Street will acquire a majority interest in Take Care Employer Solutions LLC.



Take Care Employer Solutions is a Walgreens subsidiary that manages more than 360 worksite health centers nationwide. Water Street also has signed an agreement to simultaneously invest in CHS Health Services, a provider of more than 130 worksite health centers. Water Street will merge Take Care Employer Solutions and CHS to form a new company dedicated to providing worksite health centers. The new company will serve more than 200 leading corporations through nearly 500 worksite health-and-wellness centers located across the country.



“Walgreens, CHS and Water Street share a goal of maximizing employers’ return on their health care investment,” said Jeffrey Kang, Walgreens senior VP of health and wellness services and solutions. “This strategic decision to bring together our organizations’ expertise, capabilities and resources to create a leading worksite health and wellness company provides us an opportunity to play an even greater role in improving the cost and quality of workforce health care. Through our continued involvement in the business and as a preferred strategic partner with Water Street, Walgreens expects to accelerate tighter connections with employers – an important stakeholder in the health care delivery system.”