WOONSOCKET, RI —  Longtime healthcare communications leader Kym White is joining CVS Health as chief communications officer.

As senior VP and CCO, White will oversee corporate communications and reputation, media relations, social and digital communications, employee engagement, crisis and issues management, corporate social responsibility communications, and executive visibility. She will report to executive VP Tom Moriarty, who is also chief policy and external affairs officer and general counsel.

White’s move comes two years after leaving Edelman, where she was global health sector chair and global director of sectors, to lead communications for Vertex Pharmaceuticals.  Earlier in her career, she led Baxter’s corporate communications and had a 16-year career at Ogilvy, which included serving as the firm’s New York office head.

White is replacing Kathryn Metcalfe, who left CVS Health in January for Bristol-Myers Squibb, where she oversees corporate affairs as an executive VP.

White will be the second CCO in CVS Health’s history, after CVS bought Aetna's health insurance business for $69 billion in 2018. At that time, Metcalfe, who had been Aetna’s comms leader, was named the newly merged entity’s communications leader.

CVS is bringing White onboard amidst a surge in business due to the coronavirus pandemic. In April, CVS said it would be hiring 50,000 workers to meet demand.