Cardinal Health makes pharmaceutical segment organizational changes
Cardinal Health has named Debbie Weitzman, current president of pharmaceutical distribution, as CEO of the company's pharmaceutical segment.
Weitzman will replace Victor Crawford, who will be stepping down as pharmaceutical segment CEO effective Sept.19 but will remain with the company until Nov. 13 to help with the transition. The role of president of pharmaceutical distribution will be eliminated.
The company has further streamlined the pharmaceutical segment by restructuring and eliminating additional roles. As a result of these changes, the pharmaceutical and specialty distribution businesses will both report directly to Debbie Weitzman.
"Debbie has been a tremendous leader at Cardinal Health, and we believe her knowledge and experience make her the right person to lead our redesigned pharmaceutical segment," said Jason Hollar, CEO of Cardinal Health. "I believe this new design will allow us to have added focus on specialty distribution, which is a key growth area for the company, as well as simplify how our customers and manufacturers work with us."
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"On behalf of the board and entire company, I want to thank Victor for his leadership and many contributions to our business and culture during his time with Cardinal Health. Victor's steadfast leadership helped our pharmaceutical segment navigate the challenging environment during the pandemic, and we're grateful he will remain with us through Nov. 13 to ensure a smooth transition," said Hollar.
The company noted that the moves in the pharmaceutical segment come as part of its efforts to streamline organizational structure and strengthen the pharmaceutical and specialty distribution, as well as bring together similar services under one team.
Weitzman has been president of pharmaceutical distribution at Cardinal Health since 2017, leading the company's distribution efforts to thousands of pharmacies across the care continuum, from retail and hospital pharmacies to long-term care and community health center pharmacies. She also led the launch of and oversees Outcomes, a unified ecosystem that brings together patient engagement, clinical intervention and pharmacy workflow solutions to enhance patient outcomes.
Throughout her 16-year career at Cardinal Health, Weitzman has served in varying leadership roles across sales and distribution operations. She has extensive international experience having previously served as the senior vice president and general manager of Cardinal Health Puerto Rico, responsible for sales and distribution operations for pharmaceutical products, medical-surgical products, hospital pharmacy management and logistics services in Puerto Rico and Latin America.
[Read more: Cardinal Health to open distribution center in central Ohio]
Prior to joining Cardinal Health, Weitzman held positions of increasing responsibility at Johnson & Johnson Medical Caribbean. She began her career in banking at J.P. Morgan, followed by various marketing roles in consumer brand management both in the United States and Puerto Rico.
She serves on the board of directors for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and is a delegate with the National Association of Wholesalers.