NEW YORK — CVS Health has named Kathryn Metcalfe chief communications officer following its acquisition of Aetna, where Metcalfe had led comms since 2016.

Metcalfe will lead communications for the newly-merged entity, in which CVS bought Aetna's health insurance business for $69 billion. Meanwhile, David Palombi, who had been chief communications officer at CVS since 2014, has left the company. 

The merger was billed as an opportunity for the two powerhouse companies to better serve patients through coordinated care and reining in costs. The deal, however, has also raised concerns that reduced competition could hurt consumers.

“I look at it as a role with tremendous opportunity for both CVS and Aetna,” Metcalfe said. “As we talked about with our deal, the goal is to really transform healthcare and the experience that customers, members, and patients have with healthcare.”

Metcalfe will oversee the full range of the company’s communications internally and externally. Plans including unifying the CVS and Aetna comms teams currently in place, she said.

She reports to Thomas Moriarty, chief policy and external affairs officer at CVS. 

Before joining Aetna, Metcalfe was CCO of Deloitte and held leadership roles at Pfizer before that.