Walmart, the world’s largest retailer headquartered in Bentonville Arkansas, is opening its second Rogers health clinic in North West Arkansas. It first began opening clinics, in 2018, to provide primary care with low and transparent rates. The services are available for those who have and also for those who do not have insurance. Primary health services such as dental care, labs and imaging will be provided at the clinic, for a flat fee, which is mentioned upfront.
Walmart has said that it will open two health clinics, this summer in Rogers and Fort Smith. The corporate giant also said that five more clinics will be opened in Florida, following which the retailer will have more than 25 clinics across the nation.
According to a report in Talk Business & Politics, Walmart executives said that the clinics would open in accordance with the giant retailer’s plan to increase affordable primary care in under-served areas. Dr. Ronald Searcy at the Walmart Health Clinic in Springdale said that although insurance is accepted, customers can also pay by cash and a routine visit would cost $59.
He also mentioned that although lab and imaging charges were separate, the prices were posted in the lobby of the clinic. He mentioned that the affordable cost made it possible for patients to visit and one of them had been referred to a specialist for cancer treatment and “got the care she needed.”
In a media Q & A session on June 3, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that health clinics were not financially viable, when they were in small numbers. He said that the company had invested in these clinics as “it’s the right thing to do for our customers.” He added that these clinics would become more sustainable over time as additional clinics and services would be added.
Kevin Host, senior vice president, Walmart Health & Wellness said that their business was growing and that they would continue to make investments across their “entire Health & Wellness team to help drive that growth.” He also said that Walmart would be hiring 5,000 pharmacy technicians in this year.
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