Search is Powered by Google
Public Health News

Wal-Mart To Open More New, Upgraded In-Store Health Clinics

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 08 Feb 2008 - 6:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:1 star

1 (1 votes)

Health Professional:4 and a half stars

4.33 (3 votes)

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday is expected to announce that it will open several hundred new in-store medical clinics by 2010 and that it will co-brand the clinics with local hospitals and medical groups, the New York Times reports. The company says it will brand 200 of the new clinics, which will be called Clinic at Wal-Mart walk-in centers, with RediClinics, a Revolution Health company. Currently, Wal-Mart has 78 in-store clinics in operation, including 13 run by RediClinics, but the clinics have "had uneven performance in some cases," the Times reports. The current clinics will be converted to the new brand as their leases come up for renewal. The company plans to have a total of 400 clinics by 2010.

Wal-Mart spokesperson Deisha Galberth said that Wal-Mart will partner with local hospitals and medical practices to run the clinics. The first Clinic at Wal-Mart will open in Little Rock, Ark., in April and will be staffed by nurse practitioners employed by the St. Vincent Hospital System (Freudenheim, New York Times, 2/7). Galberth said that co-branding the clinics means that they will carry the names of both Wal-Mart and its partners and will have an identical look and record-keeping system.

According to the Convenient Care Association, a trade group for walk-in clinics, about 7% of U.S. residents have used a walk-in clinic at least once. The AP/Hartford Courant reports that the "number is expected to increase dramatically" as other chains expand their clinics. In November 2007, there were about 800 in-store clinics nationwide. CCA estimates there will be more than 1,500 by the end of this year. Walk-in clinics typically are staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants and offer care for routine conditions, such as colds, bladder infections or sunburn (Kabel, AP/Hartford Courant, 2/7).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.




Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Home About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Links Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Contact Us
Psychiatry Urology
Bipolar Schizophrenia

medical news gadget

Add to Google


developers
website gadget code
website news code
medical news rss feed links


MedReader RSS Reader


Katrina's Health Aftermath image Katrina's Health Aftermath

The worst of Hurricane Katrina may be over, but thousands of evacuees from the Gulf coast still face an uncertain future. With the recovery underway, are we prepared for the next perfect storm...

Drug Interactions image Drug Interactions

Most people realize drugs have side effects. But did you know drugs can interact with other prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, herbal supplements and sometimes even food...

View more videos...