Wal-Mart Plans To Open 400 Health Clinics By 2010

Wal-Mart has announced a plan to open hundreds of in-store medical clinics within the next two years, aiming to have 400 clinics up and running by 2010.

The announcement comes on the heels of the overnight closing of the prominent Wal-Mart in-store clinic CheckUps, which literally closed so suddenly not even its employees knew not to come into work. Those 23 CheckUps that shut their doors represented nearly one third of Wal-Mart’s current in-store clinics.

The CheckUps debacle apparently was caused by a startup company that couldn’t bring in enough revenue quickly enough to cover its costs. It’ll be interesting to see how Wal-Mart addresses this in the future - obviously it would be in Wal-Mart’s best interest this time around to do a little homework and partner with companies it knows will succeed.

The story, out of Phoenix, reported several Phoenix are hospitals were reluctant to discuss the issue.

Wal-Mart to open 400 health clinics nationally by year 2010 [Phoenix Business Journal]

Grocery, drug and retail chains are expanding to offer in-store medical clinics as uninsured patients with common illnesses clog Valley emergency rooms.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest retailer, is eyeing the Arizona market and looking to partner with local hospitals and health systems to run mini clinics in its stores.

“We want to provide a point of entry into the health care system for people who are uninsured and underinsured,” said Daniel Morales, director of communications for Wal-Mart’s Southwest region.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based chain plans to open 400 walk-in clinics at existing Wal-Mart Supercenters, starting in Atlanta and Dallas. By the end of the summer, company officials should have a better handle on how many will open in Arizona, Morales said.

“We don’t have a number for Arizona,” Morales said. “It’s way too premature. We are looking for partners in the state of Arizona—hospitals and health systems we can partner with so we can put these clinics in our stores.”

Bill Byron, spokesman for Banner Health, the largest health system in Arizona, said it is an intriguing concept.

“We’re certainly interested in this as a new development, as all providers should be,” Byron said. “But at this time, I’m not aware that we’re involved in any discussions about this. A lot of exploration needs to occur as to whether or not that will come to pass.”

Other hospitals were reluctant to discuss the issue. Officials from St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center and the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association declined to comment.

This new strategy comes on the heels of New York-based CheckUps—one of Wal-Mart’s retail clinic partners—closing its doors in 23 Wal-Mart stores in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

CheckUps is “closed for the time being,” said William Armstrong Jr., spokesman for the clinics. “I wouldn’t write them off at this point.”

Armstrong said it’s too soon to say whether those locations will reopen. The problem, he said, had nothing to do with Wal-Mart, which leased space to CheckUps, but rather with being a startup company that couldn’t bring in enough revenue quickly enough to cover its costs.

“It takes a little time for that awareness to build,” Armstrong said.

CheckUps was seeing 20 to 30 patients daily, barely breaking even, he said.

Morales said those closures have no influence on Wal-Mart’s approach to opening its mini clinics.

An additional 55 in-store clinics in nine states continue to be operated by various providers, including 15 run by Smart Care in Colorado and nine by RediClinic in Virginia.

“We will open 400 co-branded clinics by 2010,” Morales said.

Meanwhile, grocery chains and drug stores are using Wal-Mart’s model of partnering with existing companies that operate clinics within retail stores.

For example, Fry’s Food Stores of Arizona Inc. partnered with Brentwood, Tenn.-based The Little Clinic to open walk-in facilities inside three Valley stores, with plans to open five more this year.

Mike Alday, spokesman for The Little Clinic, said there is a lot of competition in this growing industry.

The clinics are staffed with advanced registered nurse practitioners and certified physician assistants who are authorized to diagnose, treat and write prescriptions for common illnesses and minor injuries. The clinics also provide wellness care, such as general checkups, vaccinations and back-to-school and sports exams.

Bashas’, a Chandler-based grocery chain, has MediMin Inc. clinics in four of its Valley stores.

Debbie Tofil, vice president of operations management for Avondale-based MediMin, said she hopes to open four more this year within the Bashas’ family of stores, which include Food City and Ike’s Farmers Market.

“There is definitely a need for retail clinics,” she said.

Patients can get in quickly and easily, rather than waiting a week to see their primary care physicians or paying hundreds of dollars and waiting hours for an emergency room visit when it could be done in 15 minutes or less, Tofil said. Depending on the clinic, some insurance plans may be accepted.

When a medical problem is too severe to handle, clinic staff will refer patients to a nearby doctor’s office or emergency room, she said. The facilities are not equipped to fix broken bones or handle major open wounds, Tofil said.

CVS Caremark Corp. and Walgreens Co. also have clinics in their drug stores.

MinuteClinic Inc., a CVS subsidiary, has 14 locations in Valley CVS stores and three in Tucson.

Walgreens subsidiary Take Care Health Systems manages 142 clinics in several cities nationwide, including Tucson. More than 400 clinics are expected to be in operation by the end of this year.

Officials were not ready to announce specific plans for the Phoenix market.

Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, February 22, 2008

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