By Greg Bensinger

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 (Reuters) - Amazon AMZN.O is putting a doctor in charge of its growing healthcare business.

The firm on Wednesday announced Dr. Roy Schoenberg, who co-founded American Well Corp. AMWL.N, a telehealth medicine company, will take over the healthcare business starting July 1. He recently stepped down as executive chairman of Amwell, as it's known, and had been co-CEO of the Boston-based company until 2024 before passing the torch solely to his brother, Ido.

Neil Lindsay will relinquish his role atop the healthcare unit and leave Amazon before the end of the year, after a nearly five-year stint running the business and 16 years at Amazon. Lindsay, who had no prior background in healthcare, has headed healthcare since November 2021 and was previously a senior vice president in charge of the Prime membership program and held roles in marketing, including for Kindle e-readers.

Schoenberg is also CEO of privately-held elder care startup Aileen.ai, which he co-founded. It could not be learned if he planned to leave Aileen before starting at Amazon.

Healthcare at Amazon encompasses a variety of businesses, including the One Medical chain of clinics and prescriptions by mail. The company has said it is one of its fastest-growing businesses, but does not break out its results.

Shares of Amazon rose 2.5% to $271.85 and Amwell gained 4.2% to $8.84.