Vaccinating our Communities: How CVS Health is staffing our pharmacies to answer the call

Our experiences shape us: who we are, what matters, and the lens through which we see life. As a kid growing up, I experienced the ups and downs of living with a father who had a successful career, but whose life was altered when he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his 40s. My mother started a bookstore out of our home to help raise money, and they both supported my grandfather who lived next door. As a teen I survived middle school, trying to fit into the public education system while not having much money. We did what we could to get by on our farm—including raising a garden out back, clipping coupons, buying from garage sales, and making do with off-brand clothes from the nearby discount retailer. It was a good life and we enjoyed our time together, even though we were far from wealthy.

These experiences helped to shape me into who I am: someone who understands the importance of purpose and human connection; that a person is more than the figures on a paycheck, and that people’s joy and suffering are often much deeper than what you see on the outside. I care profoundly about people and relationships, and I relish the opportunity to make a positive impact where I can.

That’s why I believe now, more than ever, we cannot underestimate the power of empathy and caring. Whether it’s for our loved ones, our communities, or our most vulnerable—caring for one another is uniting us. As we pass the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, I can’t help but reflect that it’s empathy and care that has gotten many of us through some very tough times, and it’s those behaviors that will continue to make a difference.

I’m nothing less than proud when I consider how our CVS Health team did what some people said couldn’t be done. Working together, people and teams have collaborated in unprecedented ways and forces. Whether it was staying open so we could continue to deliver the products, medications, and clinical services that our customers needed, making COVID tests available at nearly 5,000 locations, or administering more than 10 million vaccines to long-term care facilities, healthcare workers, and high-risk members of the public, our team has accomplished so much through the power of teamwork and caring.

If there is one word to sum up the past year, it’s “unprecedented.” There is no doubt it was a year of unprecedented loss and isolation. It was a year that exposed the divisions in our country and the widening gap between the haves and have-nots. But it was also a year that showed we can be at our very best; that we can pursue unprecedented advancements in technology, innovation in healthcare, and opportunities for each of us to make an impact.

I am known to say that it takes carbon, time, and pressure to make diamonds. Well, 2020 was full of intense pressure and as a result, many diamonds were made! Throughout the year, we:

• reinvented our hiring process to hire better talent, faster, and in a more agile way than ever before
• adapted our patient-care approach to include work-from-home call centers, all while vastly improving telehealth, online scheduling, and care that enabled our patients to get what they needed
• created limited-exposure kiosk centers for COVID testing to help keep the employees and customers in our stores safe
• transformed our intern program to be fully virtual—one of the first in the industry to do so—and received a 95% net promoter score from the interns who participated
• partnered with companies across the country to hire furloughed or laid off workers from hard-hit industries that were reeling from the economic impact of COVID

Our team cared deeply throughout it all. They stepped up, working long days, nights, and weekends, voluntarily committing to a purpose that was bigger than them. We made a commitment to respond to this pandemic and be there for our communities.

To keep doing this impactful work, we need you.

The experience of living through this pandemic is putting into perspective who and what we care about most. It’s shaping our lives and futures, and the magnitude of its impact will be felt for years to come. To help make a difference in our collective futures, I can think of no better way than by joining our COVID-19 Support Team, whether that’s as a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or any of the thousands of other roles that help people on their path to better health. Please join us on our journey to vaccinate our customers, patients, and members across the 10,000+ communities which we serve.

Jeff Lackey is the Vice President of Talent Acquisition at CVS Health—one of the most diversified health services companies in the US and #5 on the Fortune 500. Responsible for leading the enterprise-wide talent acquisition strategy, Jeff helps his leaders and teams hire great people, so they in turn can help many more people on their path to better health.