CAMP HILL, Pa. — Bruce Bodaken, former chairman and chief executive officer of Blue Shield of California, has been elected to the Rite Aid Corp. board of directors.
The addition of Bodaken, announced Monday, comes amid changes to the makeup of Rite Aid’s board.
Bodaken, 61, spent 18 years at San Francisco-based Blue Shield of California, including as chairman, president and CEO from 2000 to 2012. He was president and chief operating officer from 1995 to 2000 and executive vice president and chief operating officer from 1994 to 1995.
Before that, Bodaken served as senior vice president and associate chief operating officer of F.H.P. Inc., a managed care provider, from 1990 to 1994 and held various positions at F.H.P. from 1980 to 1990, including regional vice president. He is currently 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 said in a statement. "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."
Michel Coutu, a director at Jean Coutu Group, resigned from Rite Aid’s board 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.
In addition, 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 Rite Aid director since 2008, have told the company they won’t stand for re-election 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.
As of the annual meeting date, Rite Aid’s board will have eight members. It currently has 10 members: Standley, who became chairman last June; Michael Regan, the lead independent director; Bodaken; Sammons; Donald, currently CEO of Extended Stay Hotels and a former chief executive of Haggen, Starbucks and Pathmark; David Jessick, a former Rite Aid and Fred Meyer executive; Francois Coutu, CEO of Jean Coutu Group; Marcy Syms, former chair and CEO of Syms Corp.; Joseph Anderson, chairman and CEO of TAG Holdings; and John Baumer, a partner of Leonard Green & Partners.
