Signify Health announced plans to lay off almost 500 employees, starting Oct. 1, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Rhode Island, and Texas.

• California: Lyons Magnus issued a voluntary recall of several popular nutrition drinks, including Oatly and Glucerna, over potential microbial contamination. As of July 28, the company said no illnesses or concerns had been reported. Last week, the company recalled additional products but did not clarify whether any reports of illness were tied to the recalled products. According to the company, FDA posted a list of 89 products included in the recall, with their lot and case numbers, following "continued collaboration and consultation" with the agency. (Patel, New York Times, 8/12)

• Rhode Island: CVS Health on Wednesday appointed Creagh Milford SVP of retail health, according to an Aug. 10 tweet from the company's CMO, Sree Chaguturu. Milford, who joined CVS in October, initially served as the company's head of enterprise virtual care. Before he joined CVS, Milford was the founder and CEO of HighCare Health, which is a subsidiary of Healthcare Highways. "I'm thrilled to take on an expanded role at CVS Health as senior vice president of retail health, responsible for our MinuteClinic, HealthHUB, and Enterprise Virtual Care businesses," Milford wrote on LinkedIn. "I look forward to integrating our virtual and retail health capabilities to further enhance our connected care delivery experience for patients and consumers." (Emerson, Becker's Hospital Review, 8/12)

• Texas: Signify Health sent a letter to the Connecticut Department of Labor that outlined its plans to lay off 489 employees, starting Oct. 1. In the letter, which was sent as a requirement of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Signify said it plans to lay off 147 employees who work in one of their offices and 342 remote employees. According to a spokesperson for the company, some of the employees will be reassigned to new roles. The company's announcement follows a recent report that Signify Health was exploring "strategic alternatives including a sale." According to the report, CVS Health plans to enter a bid as part of its expansion into home health services. According to Signify's letter, the layoff is part of the company's plan to exit its episodes-of-care segment. Signify CEO Kyle Armbrester said the company will shift its focus to its home and community services segment. "We've got a good pipeline of organizations and companies that we're engaged with. I think our focus on acquisitions [are companies that] have out-the-gate synergies," Armbrester said. "What we're really excited about with Caravan is that we landed integration materially in three months." (Perna, Modern Healthcare, 8/12)