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"McKesson is helping transform the health care industry into a modern, efficient, and quality-driven system."
John Hammergren
Chairman and CEO
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John Hammergren
Chairman and CEO
Our History |
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McKesson's Roots in Health Care Services The history of McKesson dates back to the beginnings of organized health care in the United States. Founded in 1833 by John McKesson and Charles Olcott in New York City, the company was focused on the importation and wholesaling of therapeutic drugs and chemicals from its inception.Run out of a small shop in the city’s financial district, the business quickly began to thrive in an era when sailing ships were introducing America to a new world of global trade. McKesson and Olcott did a brisk business stocking the medicine chests aboard those ships, providing them with drugs imported from Europe and medicinal herbs, roots and spices acquired from Shaker colonies in Pennsylvania.  Soon the partners hired an assistant, Daniel Robbins, who within a few years would be made a partner himself. After Olcott’s death in 1853, the firm was renamed McKesson & Robbins. By then, the company was already distributing pharmaceutical products via covered wagons in 17 states and territories, from Vermont to California.In 1855, the company became one of the first wholesale houses to manufacture drugs. McKesson & Robbins' fluid extracts, tinctures, pills and tablets soon became known all over the world, and the company won medals for its pioneering work. The 20th Century: Expanding Horizons In the early 1900s McKesson & Robbins made a critical strategic decision to persuade a number of well-established wholesaling firms to become its subsidiaries, forming a national drug wholesaling company. That move made McKesson & Robbins the leading distributor of pharmaceutical drug products in the United States. It also shifted the company's focus to distribution for various lines of businesses outside of health care. During the 1960s, McKesson & Robbins continued its focus on distribution by merging with Foremost Dairies of San Francisco to form Foremost-McKesson Inc. The new company included four main operating units: McKesson & Robbins Drug Company, Foremost Foods Company, McKesson Liquor Company and McKesson Chemical Company. Foremost-McKesson became the largest U.S. distributor of drugs, alcoholic beverages and chemicals; the largest supplier of whey by-products; the largest producer of processed water; a leader in the fresh dairy products field; and a multiregional distributor of hospital and laboratory supplies and equipment.In the 1980s and 1990s, McKesson decided to focus more on health care and divested its unrelated businesses such as Foremost Dairies, McKesson Chemical, McKesson Wine & Spirits and Armor All Products. During this time, McKesson acquired Automated Healthcare, now part of McKesson Automation, and General Medical, the largest distributor of medical-surgical supplies. The company also acquired HBO & Company for $14 billion in stock and operated for a time as McKesson HBOC—the world's largest health care services company. In 2000, McKesson divested its only remaining non-health care asset, McKesson Water Products. McKesson TodayToday, McKesson is ranked 14th on the FORTUNE 500 with more than $106.6 billion in annual revenue. The company delivers vital medicines, medical supplies and health care information technology solutions that touch the lives of patients in every health care setting. The depth and breadth of the company’s product and service offerings, coupled with the largest customer base in the health care industry, uniquely position McKesson to meet the needs of its customers:
Empowering the evolution of health care, McKesson’s products and services improve the quality of care, eliminate errors, reduce unnecessary costs, synthesize information for physicians, improve the workflow of nurses and free up pharmacists to counsel patients. |
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Our History
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