Walmart has announced the closure of health clinics at 51 stores across five states due to a challenging reimbursement environment and rising operating costs. This decision comes in contrast to their earlier plans to double the number of clinics at their retail locations. The closure of these clinics and virtual care operations was deemed necessary as the business had become unsustainable. Although Walmart did not provide a specific date for the closures, sources suggest that they will happen over the next 45 to 90 days.
The health clinics were first opened by Walmart in Georgia in 2019 and later expanded to Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, and Texas. These clinics offered primary care, behavioral health, labs, X-rays, and virtual care through walmarthealth.com. Despite initial plans to increase the number of clinics earlier this year, the decision to close them came after new information about insurer reimbursements was received by the company.
In response to Walmart’s decision, Amazon expanded benefits for Prime members to include online services and visits to hundreds of One Medical clinics in various US cities. On the other hand, Walgreens announced last month that it would be closing 160 Village MD clinics due to a significant financial hit. Although Walmart will be closing its health clinics, it will continue to operate pharmacies in approximately 4,600 stores across the US, with most located in medical provider shortage areas. Walmart views their pharmacies as an essential part of providing access to healthcare services for their customers.
