Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Jun 17, 2020,03:07pm EDT
Walmart Health’s first
“super center for basic[+]
WALMART
Walmart disclosed plans to open more “Walmart Health” centers that
feature an array of primary medical services, dental care, and behavioral
health services as part of a new model being replicated beyond Georgia into
other markets.
Walmart says the new health centers opening
this month will be located in Loganville, Georgia, and Springdale, Arkansas.
They will be the third and fourth such centers to open in less than a year.
Executives said the new centers build on the
first 10,000 square foot facility that opened last fall in Dallas, Georgia,
where Walmart shoppers and patients in the community have taken to the concept.
A Calhoun, Ga., center already opened and the new Loganville center are about
6,800 square feet, a Walmart spokeswoman confirmed.
The new centers, like the first “Walmart
Health” brand center in Dallas, Georgia, offer more services than the 19 “Care Clinics” that take up about 1,500 square feet
inside stores elsewhere in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. The retailer says
the Care Clinics remain an important part of their healthcare offerings, but
are more limited in service.
“Our existing Walmart Health Centers in Dallas
and Calhoun, Georgia, have created a real impact in the months since opening,”
Walmart’s senior vice president of health and wellness, Sean Slovenski said in a blog post Wednesday.
“Patients have responded favorably to our low,
transparent pricing for key healthcare services, regardless of insurance
status,” Slovenski added. “They’re also appreciative of the convenience of our
facilities that offer primary and urgent care, labs, x-ray and diagnostics,
counseling, dental, optical and hearing services all in one central facility.
But don’t just take my word for it.”
The move by Walmart comes as CVS Health opens hundreds of “HealthHubs” which
include additional health and wellness items and services beyond what’s already
available in the drugstore chain’s MinuteClinics. Meanwhile, Walgreens Boots
Alliance has been partnering with an array of companies, testing everything
from urgent care in attached centers operated by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum
MedExpress unit to Partners in Primary Care Clinics for Medicare beneficiaries
that are operated by Humana.
In an interview last year, Slovenski decribed
the new Walmart Health centers as “a super center for basic healthcare
services.”
The larger Walmart Health Center puts “key
health services under one roof,” a first for the world’s largest retailer when
it comes to offering primary care, dental, optometry, counseling, laboratory
tests, X-rays, hearing, wellness education and behavioral health.
“It’s clear our model is working, but there’s
also more to be done to ensure every family has access to care,” Slovenski
said. “Walmart
Health will continue to expand with additional locations opening
in Georgia this year. We owe it to our communities to continue our mission to
bring quality care to those who need it, now more than ever.”
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