NEW YORK: CVS Health has named Kym White SVP and chief communications officer.

White is starting in the role on Monday and reporting to Tom Moriarty, EVP and chief policy and external affairs officer and general counsel. She has oversight of corporate communications and reputation, media relations, social and digital communications, employee engagement, crisis and issues management, CSR communications and executive visibility.

The last person to head comms at CVS Health was Kathryn Metcalfe, who exited the role in January to join Bristol-Myers Squibb as EVP of corporate affairs.

“CVS Health is in the midst of a business transformation and poised to have an even larger impact on the delivery of healthcare; that’s an exciting opportunity for a communicator,” said White, who will oversee 100 staffers. “With COVID-19, the company’s mission to help people on their path to better health has never been more urgent or important.”

CVS Health acquired Aetna in the biggest deal of 2018, and last year it expanded certain retail locations with HealthHUB offerings for primary care alongside its basic Minute Clinic services.

Last month, CVS Health hired 50,000 workers and delivered bonuses to employees who are required to work on-site during the coronavirus pandemic. The company's CVS Pharmacy locations remain open during the crisis.

White was most recently SVP and chief communications officer for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a global biotechnology company based in Boston. She left the company last spring. Before that, she served as global chair of the health sector at Edelman.

“I led the CVS Health business at Edelman for a number of years and was a part of their landmark decision to stop selling tobacco products in 2014, which helped paved the way for the company’s ongoing business transformation,” said White.

White was also corporate comms VP and global function leader at medical device company Baxter International and headed up the health practice and New York office at Ogilvy. She began her career at Burson-Marsteller.

In 2017, White was named to PRWeek and MM&M's Health Influencer 50 list.