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CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. has refashioned its board of directors.
In the wake of three of its 10 members stepping down, the company reduced the size of its board to eight and named former Blue Shield of California chairman and chief executive officer Bruce Bodaken as its newest director.
Bodaken, 61, spent 18 years at Blue Shield of California, including the last 12 years as chairman, president and CEO. He was the company’s president and chief operating officer from 1995 to 2000 and executive vice president and chief operating officer from 1994 to 1995.
Earlier in his career Bodaken was senior vice president and associate chief operating officer of the managed care provider F.H.P. Inc.
In addition to his position on the Rite Aid board, Bodaken serves as a director at WageWorks Inc. and a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care.
“We are very pleased to welcome Bruce to our board,” Rite Aid chairman, president and CEO John Standley says. “As Rite Aid continues to grow our business and develop new and exciting ways to better serve our customers in a rapidly changing health care environment, we expect to benefit greatly from Bruce’s in-depth knowledge of the health care industry and his more than 20 years of executive leadership experience.”
Rite Aid opted to pare its board to eight directors after three of its directors decided to leave the board.
Michel Coutu, a director at Jean Coutu Group, resigned on April 17 after more than five years of service following Jean Coutu Group’s sale of 72.5 million shares of Rite Aid common stock, or about 40% of its interest in the U.S. drug chain.
Meanwhile, former Rite Aid chairman and CEO Mary Sammons, who has served as a Rite Aid director since 1999, and James Donald, who has been a board member 2008, have told the company they won’t stand for reelection at Rite Aid’s annual shareholders meeting on June 20.
“The board of directors expresses its gratitude to Mr. Donald, Ms. Sammons and Mr. Michel Coutu for their valuable contributions during their tenure on the board,” Rite Aid stated in a May 16 Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the annual meeting proxy statement.
