Despite clinic closings, Meijer keeps commitment to health care

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. Meijer has had a growing retail clinic program that helped establish its positions as a retailer interested in the needs of consumers hard pressed by medical costs, while also offering a free prescription drug program that provides antibiotics to customers free of charge, further marking its commitment.

The Meijer commitment remains, as does the prescription drug program, but most of the clinics are gone, although through no fault of the retailer.

Meijer has gone from having 39 clinics operating in its stores to having one unit that is situated in Normal, Ill. The company leased space to four different providers who operated independently, but in recent weeks, three of the four have withdrawn from the market, and, as a result, clinic operators who had opened units in Meijer stores in upper Michigan, the Detroit area and Indiana have shuttered their operations.

Family Quick Care operates the Normal clinic, and a Meijer source noted that it seems to be doing well. Physicians Organization of Western Michigan, Early Solutions and Medical Mart operated the defunct clinics.