Walmart health chief shares Walmart Health expansion plans, insights
One year since opening the first Walmart Health clinic, Walmart U.S.’s senior vice president and COO of health and wellness, Lori Flees, is outlining the retailer’s plan to grow the footprint of the standalone clinics. Flees shared the plans in a blog post on the Bentonville, Ark.-based company’s website.
Currently, Walmart Health boasts six locations, including five in Georgia — one of which opened this week in Cartersville — and one in Alabama. By the end of Walmart’s fiscal year, Flees said there will be seven more locations in Georgia and two in Chicago. Also, as previously announced, Walmart Health will open seven locations in the Jacksonville, Fla., market in 2021, with preliminary plans being discusses for Orlando and Tampa markets locations.
“Our new health centers will be in communities in need of affordable, accessible preventive care, which we will help deliver through Walmart Health,” Flees wrote.
As it scales the Walmart Health model, the retailer has partnered with Blox, a maker of medical modules, to standardize the manufacturing process. A move that offers potential for designs tailored to the communities Walmart Health will serve alongside the ability to efficiently scale the model. The Cartersville location was the second location built with Blox, with the Newman, Ga., location having been the first.
“Each new location will build on the successful prototype we launched last year, as we continue to learn and work to deliver the integrated quality care our customers want and deserve through Walmart Health,” Flees wrote. “We’ve spent the past year refining our model and have learned a lot along the way.”
Among the learnings Flees outlined was a positive response from both patients and clinicians, as well as the impact that Walmart Health’s transparent pricing is having among patients, regardless of insurance status. The convenience of offering primary care, urgent care, labs, x-rays, diagnostics, counseling, dental, optical and hearing services with evening and weekend hours also has been positively received. One key learning is that primary care visits already are beginning to transition to chronic care management, with Walmart Health locations offering continuity of care and enabling proactive visits.
“We’re so proud of what we started in Dallas, Georgia, last year, and we have bold ambitions for how we will continue to expand healthcare access in the communities we serve,” Flees wrote. “We have momentum on our side and a year of key learnings under our belt as we continue our mission to make it easier and more affordable for people to live better and healthier.”