McKesson ideaShare 2026: Project Oasis Expansion and New Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Program Explained

In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Niki Shah, MHSA, MBA, CCHW, vice president of Health Impact & Innovation at McKesson, discussed several health equity initiatives highlighted at McKesson ideaShare 2026. Shah explained that Project Oasis selects new pharmacy desert locations based on access gaps, community readiness, population health data, and real estate criteria, noting that frequent community engagement was the biggest lesson learned from the Avondale, Cincinnati, launch. She also detailed McKesson's new diabetic retinopathy screening pilot, which embeds artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technology in community pharmacies—through partnerships with the American Pharmacy Association Foundation and the American Academy of Ophthalmology—so patients can receive results and referrals on the spot. Shah closed by outlining next steps across these programs, including recruiting an owner-operator pharmacist for a new Project Oasis location in Syracuse, opening 30 new scholarships for the Community Health Worker (CHW) training program, and launching the diabetic retinopathy pilot in selected pharmacies.

Pharmacy Times: Can you please introduce yourself?

Niki Shah, MHSA, MBA, CCHW: My name is Niki Shah. I'm the vice president of health impact and innovation for McKesson.

Pharmacy Times: Project Oasis launched in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood in 2024 to address pharmacy deserts. What criteria did McKesson use to select the next Project Oasis location, and what lessons from Avondale are shaping your approach for the next location?

Shah: So, with Project Oasis, we take a very deliberate and holistic approach to determining how, where, and when we open the next independent pharmacy, and we look at a variety of things.

One is we look at whether there are true access gaps in that community—is it a pharmacy desert? — and we look at the data to really determine if that's the case or not. Then we look at the community readiness aspect. Is the community ready to have an independent pharmacy in its community? Are they willing to have a pharmacy? Is there a champion in the community as well? That's really important to long-term success.

The third thing we look at is actually the population health and the risk factors and the demographics in the community to really understand what the types of services that would be needed are, the health issues that may be in the community, and then making sure that whatever we do build meets those needs that we identify.

The last thing that we look at is ensuring that there's the right real estate available. Is it in the right location? Is it in a high traffic area? Will it have the visibility it needs? So we really try to look at all of those factors before making that type of decision, because we want to make sure that the pharmacy is set up for success.

And in Avondale, I think the biggest lesson that we learned is that continuous and frequent and often engagement with the community is absolutely essential—making sure that, whether it's a community dinner to introduce the pharmacy to the community or getting their feedback through focus groups, we were very deliberate about ensuring that the community had a say in what the pharmacy was going to look like. And even after the owner-operator took over, that community aspect is just so important for the long-term success.

Pharmacy Times: McKesson will introduce a new diabetic retinopathy screening pilot program in community pharmacies. How does this program work, and why is the community pharmacy the right setting to expand access to this type of screening?

Shah: We're really excited about the diabetic retinopathy program. It would be a brand new offering in the community pharmacy setting, and we believe that this will create closer access for essential services.

Part of the reason we're pursuing this model is we want to actually test if this model is feasible and viable in the community pharmacy setting and also really to determine: do patients use it? Is this something that the pharmacists are able to maintain, and are we improving access to care for that specific service?

Additionally, we're partnering with the American Pharmacy Association Foundation and the American Academy of Ophthalmology to place an AI-enabled technology that would actually do the screening in the pharmacy setting, embedded in the clinical experience that patients are already having. But what's unique about this is that the patient will receive the result while they're there in the pharmacy, and the pharmacist will have the ability to make the appropriate coordinated referral or follow-up and next steps that are needed while the patient is there.

So we believe that this will help with early detection of diseases, that it will increase more access points, and that it will improve health outcomes for patients overall.

Pharmacy Times: Since 2023, McKesson has funded 120 scholarships for pharmacy technicians to complete a 16-week training program to become certified community health workers. For those considering applying for the next cohort starting in August, what would you say about the value of participating for the technician, pharmacy, and patients alike—and why now is a great time to get involved?

Shah: We're also really excited about the community health worker program. In fact, this is our fourth round of investing in this program, because we've seen the value of investing in the technicians being trained as community health workers. And the value is multiple.

For the technicians, it creates a career path and career growth, and it allows them to be directly involved in patient care. For the patients, it creates a more holistic and connected experience where more than just the barriers to care can be addressed firsthand with the technician. And for the pharmacy overall, it creates a more enhanced and integrated care team model approach, which is so important as we move more services into the pharmacy setting. Having technicians trained as a community health worker rounds out the care team and really creates an enhanced experience for patients.

Pharmacy Times: Project Oasis, diabetic retinopathy screening, and CHW training all aim to reduce barriers to care in under-resourced communities. How do these programs work together as part of McKesson's broader health impact strategy, and what's next?

Shah: So we know across the US, millions of people face barriers to care, whether it's because of their geography or because of affordability. And we believe that by empowering healthcare at a local level with clinically forward interventions, we can really help to advance health outcomes for all, which is McKesson's purpose. These three specific projects really create a nice, integrated, enhanced approach to solving some of these access to care type challenges that patients face in these communities.

So, starting with Project Oasis: That is our investment in actually building out new physical infrastructure in pharmacy deserts. And what's next with that is we're actively recruiting a new owner-operator in the Syracuse market. So if you, or anybody you know, are licensed pharmacists interested in the opportunity, please reach out to [email protected], and we will be happy to take your application.

And then, regarding community health workers, as we continue again with the kind of integrated care team model, we're offering another 30 scholarships this year. Applications will be open through July 24, and candidates that are technicians in independent pharmacies can apply at CE Impact's website.

And then, for our new pilot around diabetic retinopathy, we're really excited to get that kicked off as well. The American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Pharmacy Association Foundation will be selecting the pharmacies that will be part of the pilot demonstration program, and we will look forward to seeing what the results are there. But overall, all of these things come together and really help to amplify our purpose, which is to advance health outcomes for all.