BALTIMORE — CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) officially announced today that it will rebuild its CVS/pharmacy Baltimore locations that sustained heavy fire damage during protests last week.
“As we watched the events unfold in Baltimore over the past week or so, our hearts turned from pain to the promise of what is ahead,” said CVS Health President and CEO Larry Merlo. “Our purpose as a company is helping people on their path to better health. There is no better way that we can fulfill that purpose than to reopen our doors and get back to serving the community. It is simply the right thing to do.”
Merlo added, “We have a long history of serving inner city communities and we are 100 percent committed to serving our patients and customers in Baltimore. We can’t tell you today exactly when we will reopen, but we are working diligently to make it as soon as possible for the people of Baltimore. Already our colleagues have been stepping up to welcome customers to our other locations and I am very proud of all they have done to stand tall and continue to serve.”
CVS/pharmacy has been serving customers in Baltimore since the mid-1990s where it now has nearly 30 stores and more than 500 employees. The two CVS/pharmacy locations that will be rebuilt are located at 2509 Pennsylvania Avenue and 2560 West Franklin Street.
As a further sign of its commitment to helping the community recover and thrive, CVS Health Foundation made a $100,000 donation to the United Way of Central Maryland “Maryland Unites Fund” and the Baltimore Community Foundation “Fund for Rebuilding Baltimore.” These funds will help provide immediate and longer-term support to people in hard-hit areas and give those communities much-needed resources.
To help minimize the financial impact of the store closings for its Baltimore employees, CVS/pharmacy paid them for their regularly scheduled hours the week of the protests, whether or not they were able to work. All of the displaced employees who want to work in other CVS/pharmacy locations will be able to do so.
“The focus now must return to doing what we do best in fulfilling the needs of daily life – food, medicine and pharmacy care,” Merlo concluded.
