Walmart partners with Wuesthoff on the first of five Florida clinics

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. Walmart has opened a new retail clinic at a supercenter here last week — the first of five Walmart clinics owned and operated by Wuesthoff Health System, which operates two hospitals in the area. Four other clinics are planned for Walmart supercenters in the Brevard County area, including Cocoa, Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay and Titusville, over the next two years.

Walmart’s clinic program hiccupped in recent years as the retailer chose a new strategy of partnering on a regional basis with such healthcare systems as Wuesthoff and others throughout the country to cobrand the clinics “The Clinic at Walmart,” after initially choosing to work with a number of different clinic providers, including RediClinic, Solantic and others.

The five Brevard Country Walmart supercenters in line to receive the clinics average about 3 million shoppers a year, with the Palm Bay location topping some 5 million a year.

Currently, Walmart operates about 50 clinics, but that number is expected to reach 400 or more clinics over the next couple of years.