Walgreens is plotting a giant, multiyear growth of its well being providers with major care firm VillageMD. Photograph credit score: Walgreens
Walgreens is focusing on Texas, Arizona and Florida as the primary markets for its plans to connect major care clinics to pharmacies. The retailer introduced plans to open 40 clinics by the tip of subsequent summer time, as a part of its partnership with Chicago-based major care startup VillageMD.
Walgreens made an preliminary $250 million fairness funding as a part of the partnership, which is anticipated to develop to $1 billion in fairness and convertible debt over the subsequent three years. By the completion of its funding, Walgreens expects to have a 30% stake within the firm.
Within the subsequent 5 years, they plan to open between 500 and 700 clinics hooked up to Walgreens shops. To begin, they are going to be in Houston, El Paso and Austin, Texas; in addition to Phoenix, Arizona and Orlando, Florida. Walgreens piloted the idea in Houston, the place it at the moment has 5 clinics open.
After seeing promising outcomes, Walgreens opted to maneuver ahead with the model. The thought was to combine VillageMD’s major care providers with its pharmacy to raised look after sufferers with continual situations.
“In today’s complex healthcare environment, this integrated model of care is more important than ever. When patients adhere to the appropriate care and medication regime, health outcomes improve,” VillageMD CEO Tim Barry mentioned in a information launch.
In a earlier interview, Barry shared an instance for a way this might work if a affected person was taking a number of totally different medicines. A pharmacist may do an entire treatment assessment and sync them up so all of them have the identical refill date.
Different retailers are additionally trying to construct out extra major care hooked up to their shops. CVS Well being, which already has nicely over 1,000 MinuteClinics, is rolling out a brand new shops model that has extra sq. footage devoted to healthcare. It has opened or transformed 450 of those shops, which it calls HealthHUBs, and plans to have 1,300 of them by the tip of 2021.
Walmart has additionally been constructing out its personal major care clinics, that are built-in with different providers, comparable to dental, counseling and labs. It at the moment has 14 of those well being facilities open, largely clustered in Georgia, based on the newest tally by Boston-based retail well being advisor James Gardner. The corporate additionally plans to increase into Florida subsequent 12 months, with not less than seven areas slated to open in Jacksonville.
