Expert: How Walgreens Is Rethinking the Pharmacist Role—And Why It Could Change the Entire Industry

In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Rick Gates, chief pharmacy officer at Walgreens, continued his discussion of the company's hybrid pharmacist model, elaborating on early pilot results, long-term workforce strategy, and the broader implications for community pharmacy practice. Gates emphasized that feedback from the initial 6-state pilot has been overwhelmingly positive, with pharmacists responding favorably to the promise of greater professional variety, schedule predictability, and sustained connectivity with their patients and store teams—elements Gates identified as fundamental to pharmacist job satisfaction and retention.

The future of the pharmacy workforce is really [an] important question facing not just Walgreens—it's facing the entire industry itself. When you look at enrollments in pharmacy schools, choice settings of practice for pharmacists, we really need to make sure we are listening to the workforce and evolving what we're doing.— Rick Gates

Gates underscored that the hybrid model is not a static solution but an evolving framework informed by continuous feedback from pharmacists and team members. He noted that Walgreens is actively evaluating whether current structural parameters—such as the frequency of remote vs in-store days—are optimally calibrated and whether similar hybrid arrangements should be extended to pharmacy technicians. This iterative, data-driven approach reflects a broader organizational commitment to building roles that are sustainable, professionally fulfilling, and responsive to workforce needs.

Central to Gates' discussion was the integration of the hybrid pharmacist model within Walgreens' larger operational transformation. He connected the initiative to the company's expanding infrastructure of microfulfillment centers and centralized services—investments designed to shift routine dispensing work away from store-level pharmacists, thereby creating greater capacity for direct patient care and meaningful clinical engagement. For pharmacists, this evolution signals a potential rebalancing of daily responsibilities toward higher-acuity, relationship-driven interactions.

Gates also addressed the issue at an industry level, acknowledging declining pharmacy school enrollment and shifting practice-setting preferences as indicators that the entire profession must modernize how it recruits, trains, and retains pharmacists. He characterized the hybrid model as a meaningful—if early—step toward creating more diverse and sustainable career pathways within the community pharmacy setting.