Table of Contents
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health today released its 11th annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, detailing its latest efforts to shape the future of health care, reduce environmental impact and exemplify corporate leadership in fulfilling the company’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health.
Among the company’s key CSR initiatives in 2017 were an enterprise response to combating the opioid crisis, development of a carbon emissions reduction target in line with climate science, and a rapid and robust response to a series of natural disasters that impacted CVS operations, colleagues and communities. The company also made new commitments to increase access to health care for veterans and military families, as well as to address the nation’s skills gap through its Registered Apprenticeship program. To further align enterprise goals and values with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, CVS Pharmacy became the first U.S. pharmacy chain to join the UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.
Larry Merlo
“At CVS Health, we serve as the front door to health care touching the lives of one in three Americans, with a presence in thousands of communities across the country. We are playing an active role in providing more affordable, accessible, and effective care, and our corporate social responsibility strategy supports these efforts,” said president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo. “Looking ahead, we will continue to align our CSR goals with CVS Health’s leading position at the heart of health care delivery in the United States.”
CVS Health’s CSR framework, Prescription for a Better World, spans efforts across three strategic pillars: Health in Action, Planet in Balance and Leader in Growth. Within each pillar, the company has established goals and measurable, time-bound targets to ensure accountability. The company also reports on progress made against each target in this year’s report.
“In 2017, we established new leadership positions across a range of CSR issues. We were thoughtful and determined in how we generated impact by leveraging our size, scale and expertise,” said Eileen Howard Boone, senior vice president of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. “Collaboration with our many internal and external partners drove us forward. Their partnership and support will continue to be central to the advancement of our CSR strategy.”
Notable accomplishments in 2017 include:
Health in Action
- An enhanced utilization management program to ensure that opioids are being prescribed and used appropriately, consistent with guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Launch of in-store medication disposal units to safely collect medication that could otherwise be diverted, misused or abused
- Significant progress against 2020 targets to help deliver the first tobacco-free generation, including 4.4 million youth reached with tobacco-free messaging and 128 new tobacco-free educational institutions
- An expanded partnership between MinuteClinic and the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide access to affordable health services for more than 120,000 veterans
- Delivery of more than $6.4 million in services through the Project Health free health screening campaign, which since 2006, has resulted in more than $122 million in services provided
Planet in Balance
- Submission of a science-based emissions reduction target for approval from the Science Based Targets initiative
- The removal of chemicals of consumer concern across nearly 600 store brand beauty and personal care products
- Progress toward the company’s 2020 target of sustainably sourced palm oil in all store brand products containing this ingredient
- The diversion of 48 percent of company-generated waste to recycling and reuse through ongoing, data-driven improvement projects
Leader in Growth
- Record spending with diverse and women-owned suppliers, and the establishment of new spending targets for 2020
- Inclusion on Diversity Inc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity list for the first time, a result of a greater focus on diverse supplier spending and management-level recruitment
- The opening of a Talent Connect Center in Fort Bragg, N.C. to connect service members and their spouses with career training and employment opportunities as they transition from military to civilian life
CVS’ 2017 CSR Report was developed in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Standards, a global framework widely used by organizations to report on CSR and sustainability performance. The company completed a materiality assessment in 2017 and focused its reporting on topics that reflect its most significant economic, environmental, and social impacts, or that substantively influence the assessments and decisions of stakeholders.
The Report is available online at cvshealth.com/social-responsibility.
