Walgreen CEO joints Verizon board of directors

NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon Communications Inc. said Thursday that the CEO of Walgreen Co., the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., will join its board on March 1.

Walgreen's Gregory Wasson will be the thirteenth director on the company's board

The addition gives Verizon another link to the health care sector, which now accounts for nearly a fifth of the U.S. economy. Verizon, AT&T and other wireless companies have been working to incorporate their technology into health care delivery, via everything from doctor-patient teleconferencing to smartphone applications to help manage diseases.

Wasson has been Walgreens president and CEO since February 2009. Walgreen, based in Deerfield, Ill., operates 8,385 locations with 240,000 employees.