Walgreens’ VillageMD CEO Tim Barry resigns

The CEO and co-founder of Walgreens’ health clinics business, VillageMD, has resigned—a move that comes as Walgreens is considering selling its stake in the business. The company’s board has appointed VillageMD Chief Operating Officer Jim Murray to serve as interim CEO effective immediately.

A Walgreens Boots Alliance spokesman confirmed Tim Barry’s resignation to Supermarket News Wednesday, saying:

“We look forward to continuing to partner with Jim Murray as he assumes day-to-day leadership responsibilities. In addition to his decades of recognized experience in healthcare, since joining VillageMD, Jim has been integral in helping lead the company’s turnaround as VillageMD makes meaningful progress and positions itself for profitable growth.”

In August, Walgreens first announced it was considering selling its full stake in the VillageMD business as the retailer pushed to turn its core pharmacy operations around. A few months prior, the retailer had already talked about reducing its stake in the clinic operator as part of a broad restructuring of its operations, calling for the closure of up to 25% of its traditional drugstore locations.

Walgreens first began partnering with VillageMD in 2019, and in 2020 acquired a 30% stake in the clinic operator for $1 billion as part of a plan to expand its primary-care offerings by placing physician-staffed VillageMD clinics inside its drugstores. The retailer originally had bigger plans for the company, investing billions of dollars in it in recent years, with plans to put Village Medical clinics in 1,000 of its stores by 2027.

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VillageMD currently has 680 clinics in 26 markets, including about 200 that are co-located with Walgreens, according to reports.