CEO Tim Barry, the founder and top executive of VillageMD, is stepping down from his role as the company faces significant financial difficulties. Majority owner Walgreens Boots Alliance has reported substantial losses amounting to billions of dollars, according to Forbes. VillageMD has struggled for more than a decade to attract patients to its clinics located within Walgreens retail stores. This has led to a sharp reduction in its intended expansion plans to stand up clinics in 1,000 Walgreens stores by 2027. Earlier this year, Walgreens instead announced plans to scale back its investment in VillageMD to concentrate on more profitable business lines. VillageMD’s portfolio includes CityMD urgent care centers as well as Summit Health, a multispecialty medical group. As of July, Walgreens held 53% ownership of VillageMD.
Recalculating the future: Walgreens’ operating loss for the first 9 months of fiscal year 2024 grew to more than $13 billion, reflecting “a $12.4 billion non-cash impairment charge related to VillageMD,” according to Forbes. At the same time, Walgreens announced earlier this year that it also plans to close 1,200 of its stores nationwide.