Content about Washington, D.C.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — In a major alliance to foster preventive health in the United States, Walgreens has partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide free flu vaccinations to as many as 350,000 low-income and uninsured Americans.

Walgreens will provide more than $10 million worth of vouchers for free flu shots, which HHS will help distribute.

WASHINGTON — Procter & Gamble has inked a multiyear partnership with National Hockey League star Alex Ovechkin to serve as a Gillette brand ambassador.

Ovechkin will appear in advertising and marketing in support of the men's grooming brand in Russia and Eastern Europe, and will collaborate with Gillette to create charity programs that will contribute to youth hockey development in the region, as well as the Washington, D.C., area.

DEERFIELD, Ill. Underscoring its determination to be the nation’s premier source of flu immunization services, Walgreens on Thursday revealed it is working with the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases to educate the public and health professionals about flu prevention resources. In addition, Walgreens has joined with Families Fighting Flu, a nonprofit organization of families and healthcare practitioners, to heighten flu awareness and encourage vaccinations for children and families.

After a distinguished, eight-and-a-half-year tenure as chief of the National Community Pharmacists Association, Bruce Roberts, independent pharmacy’s toughest champion, retired June 25 as NCPA’s EVP and CEO. He now is president and CEO of Benecard Services, a small pharmacy benefit manager and prescription benefit facilitator firm founded by pharmacist Richard Ullman. Roberts, a longtime former independent pharmacy owner in Leesburg, Va., brought energy and passion to his role and helped spur a resurgence, both for the organization and independent pharmacy.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. As CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic passes the milestone of its first decade of delivering convenient access to quality care, and with the nation facing a historic expansion of the market for primary health care, MinuteClinic locations are poised to help primary care physicians handle the influx of 32 million citizens who will gain access to health insurance beginning in 2014, said Troyen Brennan, CVS Caremark chief medical officer, speaking at a Health Affairs Reinventing Primary Care conference on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.