NACDS annual meeting builds relationships

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) annual meeting from April 16-19 in Palm Beach, Florida, gave industry professionals an opportunity to meet and build business relationships. 

The conference brought together decision makers and executives and facilitated positive and productive exchanges.

At the conference, NACDS elected a new Board Chairman, H-E-B Chief Merchant and CFO Martin Otto. During his remarks, he discussed the changes in the health care landscape and how they affect the industry.

“There is a huge opportunity for pharmacy to step in and meet unmet needs by saving costs through adding services to patients that they’re not getting elsewhere and, in so doing, improving health care,” Otto said.

The conference featured a series of strategic exchange appointments, a meet the retailer program, well-known speakers and high-energy events that brought together retailers, suppliers and health care providers.

 “When you walk into an NACDS meeting you can feel the excitement and the energy in the room of competitors coming together, collaborating for the common good of the industry and — most importantly — for the American people,” NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson said.

The presentation of the Robert B. Begley Award to industry icon Tim Hayes was the final highlight of the conference. Hayes has dedicated 25 years of his career to Bayer Consumer Health, and 15 of those years he served as the company's president.