December 7, 2012—The governing board of Apexus, the federal contractor that manages the 340B prime vendor, has elevated Chris Hatwig to the new position of President.
Hatwig, Apexus’ top executive since its founding in 2004, previously had the title of Vice President.[ms-protect-content id=”2799″] Apexus is a subsidiary of Provista, the group purchasing organization established by VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC).
Hatwig’s promotion was announced in an open letter signed by Apexus Board Chairman Larry McComber, a Senior Vice President of Novation, the contracting services company for VHA, UHC, and Provista members and affiliates. The Apexus board also announced it was creating the posts of Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service. Neither of those positions has been filled yet.
Mary Ellen England, Apexus’ long-time Director of Education and Marketing, recently left the company to become Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RxStrategies, a Florida-based 340B consulting services firm.
In 2009, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) signed Apexus to a two-year base contract to run the 340B Prime Vendor Program (PVP) with three option years, the first of which HRSA exercised in October 2011 and second this past September.
This fall, HRSA gave Apexus the job of running the 340B call center after deciding to close the Pharmacy Services Support Center (PSSC), which the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) ran for 10 years under separate HRSA contracts. HRSA and APhA have signed a new contract of up to five years under which the pharmacists group will support HRSA’s 340B program integrity efforts.[/ms-protect-content]