Gloucester Alumni

Joe Calomo, grandson of fishing vessel captain Joe “Sandy” Calomo and son of the Ida and Josephs Poggie spotter Mike Calomo, has made a life long commitment to education. After graduating from Gloucester High School he received a BS Degree (1995) and a Doctor of Pharmacy (1997) from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. Joe continued his education with an MBA from Suffolk University in 2001. Currently he is an adjunct professor at University of Illinois at Chicago.

Joe joined the Walgreen Company in 1992 as a cashier at the Walgreens in Gloucester when it first opened. Through the years he worked stocking shelves, as a pharmacy technician, as a staff pharmacist, a pharmacy manager, a store manager and as Director of Clinical Operations for New England Area. His task was to develop patient care programs and educational programs at the store level. He was one of the first pharmacists to administer vaccinations in the State of Massachusetts.

Joe’s teaching career began with Mass College of Pharmacy as an Assistant Professor in 1997. Joe later served as Assistant Dean starting in 2003. Always a strong advocate of integrated medicine and improving the health care delivery system to provide better patient care, Joe developed the first accredited community residency programs for the School of Pharmacy.

Joe rejoined Walgreen as Manager of Healthcare Strategy and Services. Joe was responsible for Walgreen’s in- store clinics, and also worked with a team around worksite pharmacies and pharmacies onsite at medical facilities such as the Joslin Diabetes Center.

Joe is now Director of Strategy for the Health Services Division. He manages a team within the division that facilitates annual strategic planning process and develops future strategies. The Health Services Division is responsible for other aspects of pharmacy care. Within this group are such units as the Pharmacy benefits management group, Specialty Pharmacy, Home Care and Durable Medical Equipment, Long-Term Care, Infusion Therapy and Mail Order Pharmacy. This Division is the business to business relationship building arm of Walgreen connecting with employer groups and to other healthcare providers. Walgreen, with 6000 stores nationwide, is a company that is keeping its customer focus but transforming the types of healthcare services it offers and the ways in which it offers those services. with the goal of continuing industry leadership in the provision of high quality convenient healthcare.

Joe has been active in many organizations that are dedicated to improving the quality and availability of affordable care to meet the increasing customer needs in thousands of locations like Gloucester.