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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1
                                                                    ------------

                                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Gerald D. Stethem
            Chief Financial Officer
            (216) 514-3350
            Internet:  http://www.ncshealth.com
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                     NCS HEALTHCARE COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF
                   WALGREEN'S LONG-TERM CARE PHARMACY BUSINESS


Cleveland, Ohio (June 9, 1998)--NCS HealthCare, Inc. (Nasdaq:NCSS) today
announced that it has completed its acquisition of the long-term care pharmacy
assets of Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG).

The business, which was based in Deerfield, Illinois, provides institutional
pharmacy and ancillary services to over 20,000 long-term care residents in
Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
Annualized revenues are approximately $40 million. Terms of the transaction were
not disclosed.

NCS HealthCare, Inc. is a leading independent provider of pharmacy and related
services to long-term care and acute care facilities, including skilled nursing
centers, assisted living facilities and hospitals. NCS currently serves over
245,000 residents of long-term care facilities in thirty-four states and manages
hospital pharmacies in nineteen states.

Except for the historical financial information contained in this press release,
certain statements in this release are forward looking statements. Factors that
may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking
statements include the availability and cost of attractive acquisition
candidates, continuation of various trends in the long-term care market,
competition among providers of long-term care pharmacy services and other risks
and uncertainties described in the Company's SEC reports.