Alphabet’s Verily, Walgreens Hire New Clinical Leaders

Two major players working to disrupt health rang in the new year by hiring prominent leaders to head their clinical operations.

Alphabet, the parent company of Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences), has hired Vindell Washington, M.D., formerly of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, to serve as chief clinical officer. Washington previously served as the national coordinator for health IT at ONC from August 2016 to January 2017, Fierce Healthcare reports. Washington also worked at the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System in Baton Rouge, La., leaving as president of its medical group. Verily also recently hired Deepak Ahuja, a former Tesla executive who helped take the company public, as its chief financial officer.

Walgreens, meanwhile, has hired Kevin Ban, M.D., as its chief medical officer. Ban, who has more than 20 years of clinical experience, held the same position at athenahealth. At Walgreens, Ban will oversee Walgreens’ clinical programs, patient safety and health care information systems.

Ban joins Walgreens as the company works to reconfigure its clinical services, including building partnerships with Jenny Craig and LabCorp to offer meal-planning services and lab testing at its stores.