Rite Aid names new legal head
A seasoned professional is taking the role of chief legal officer at Rite Aid.
The drugstore retailer named Thomas Sabatino as executive VP and chief legal officer. As chief legal officer, he will oversee the organization’s legal affairs, including enterprise risk management, compliance, regulatory affairs, and privacy.
Sabatino will become a member of the company's executive leadership team and report to Busy Burr, who was named interim CEO of Rite Aid in January. He brings four decades of legal experience, most recently serving as executive VP and general counsel at Tenneco.
Previously, Sabatino has held previous executive roles at companies including Walgreen Boots Alliance, Aetna, Schering Plough Corp., and Baxter International Inc. He is on the board of advisors of the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law.
“As we continue to accelerate our performance and grow our capabilities, we are pleased to welcome Tom to the Rite Aid team,” said Busy Burr, interim CEO, Rite Aid. “We believe Tom’s proven leadership and extensive background in the healthcare industry and company transformations will help us further our mission to provide whole health for life to all of our customers.”
“This is an exciting time to join Rite Aid and be part of a performance-driven workforce focused on revitalizing operations and making a meaningful impact on improving health outcomes for all people,” said Sabatino. “I look forward to supporting these efforts while strengthening our internal legal, compliance, and governance-related capabilities so that Rite Aid remains uniquely positioned to realize its vision for the modern pharmacy.”
Rite Aid posts bigger-than-expected Q4 loss
Sabatino joins Rite Aid on the heels of a mixed fiscal fourth quarter. Rite Aid said it lost $241.3 million, or a loss of $4.39 per share in the quarter ended March 4, compared to a loss of $389.06 million, or $7.18 a share in the year-ago period. Adjusted loss was $1.24 a share, wider than the loss of $0.78 per share analysts had expected.
Revenue rose to $6.09 billion from $6.07, easily topping analysts’ estimates of $5.63 billion. Rite Aid said the revenue increase was helped by an extra week in the fourth quarter and increases in both comparable front-end sales and non-COVID prescriptions, partially offset by a reduction in revenue from COVID vaccines and testing, store closures and the loss of commercial clients at Elixir, its pharmacy benefit management subsidiary.
Based in Camp Hill, Penn., Rite Aid employs more than 6,300 pharmacists and operates more than 2,300 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states. The company also operates Seattle-area regional drugstore chain Bartell Drugs, pharmacy benefits company Elixir, and corporate health services provider Health Dialog.