Vice President, Pharmacy Services Development, Walgreens

Anita Patel joined Walgreens in June 2022 as the vice president of pharmacy services development.

She is responsible for leading efficiency and improvements in existing pharmacy services, such as immunizations, test to treat programs, and medication adherence across nearly 9,000 sites, as well as identifying new opportunities for innovation within healthcare. She also works cross-functionally with private and public partners to understand the diverse needs of local communities to implement sustainable solutions.

For nearly two decades, Patel has dedicated herself to developing and executing on strategies to prevent and respond to pressing population health challenges. She spent 18 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she worked to protect the U.S. from- public health threats and diseases including pandemics and ultimately led the team in charge of all COVID-19 response and vaccine distribution for the largest ever vaccination effort In US history.

Patel was amongst the eight individual federal employees and teams who were recognized during the 2022 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals program, the premier celebration of our nation’s public servants often described as the “Oscars” of public service. She won the COVID-19 Response Medal for designing and implementing the plan to distribute hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccines to states, localities and pharmacies across the country while communicating the importance of these vaccines to the public.

She received her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia in 2002 and a masters in biosecurity and disaster preparedness from Saint Louis University. Patel also completed her post doctoral training with the Rutgers University Institute for pharmaceutical industry in New Jersey. She is also a graduate of the Harvard National Preparedness Leadership Initiative Exec. Education Program.