Retail Clinics Approach the 1,000 Mark

The month of March had some telling developments in the market for retail clinics, and April will likely provide some significant hints of things to come.

Perhaps the most significant development in March was Walgreen’s announcement that it was buying two of the major players in the on-site employer clinic market: Whole Health and CHD Meridian. In addition, the company formed a new division to manage those acquisitions along with its TakeCare Health Systems retail clinic division. This makes perfect sense, given that both markets — on-site health clinics and retail clinics — are hot topics among the nations largest employers.

The new division at Walgreens will be headed by non other than Hal Rosenbluth, founder of TakeCare. Hal is well known for inspiring a team toward a common goal and using technology in ways that drive a business ahead of its competitors.

Meanwhile, the retail clinic beat goes on, with 27 new clinics added in the past month: 12 MinuteClinics, 5 TakeCares, three Little Clinics and a smattering of others across the country. There are a total of 947 clinics in the United States, and we will likely cross the 1,000 mark in May or June.

Some other developments:
• Florida became the first state to hit 100 retail clinics, with Minute Clinic, TakeCare, The Little Clinic, Solantic and Express Aid battling it out in Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando and South Florida. California has 80 clinics; Texas has 79.
• Late last year, MedPoint Express, an affiliate of Memorial Health System in South Bend, IN, opened two new locations in Martin’s Supermarkets. Until that time MedPoint Express had six locations in the South Bend area and Indianapolis all inside Wal-Mart Supercenters. Clearly Wal-Mart is not requiring its partners to sign exclusive agreements, as this kind of retailer diversification is evident with Aurora Health System in Milwaukee (seven Wal-Mart locations, 19 total), RediClinic (13 Wal-Mart locations, 34 total), and QuickHealth (four Wal-Mart locations, 15 total).
• Speaking of Wal-Mart, last April is when CEO Lee Scott laid out Wal-Mart’s aggressive plans for opening “as many as 400 in-store health clinics over the next two to three years.” See the following link for the full press release: http://www.walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/6419.aspx When Mr. Scott made that statement, Wal-Mart had just over 70 clinics in their stores. Today, one year later, Wal-Mart has 56. The reduced number reflects 23 locations under the Checkups USA brand, which closed earlier this year. As other operators have found, opening clinics isn’t as easy as it looks. And opening 400 in two years will be a major challenge.
• MinuteClinic had its first month-over-month reduction in clinics in a single market: Minneapolis/St. Paul. It closed a site in the Eden Prairie Mall, where the Target Clinic opened next door, going from 28 to 27 clinics in that metro. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is MinuteClinic’s most mature market, having opened its first clinic there in May 2000 when it was known as QuickMedx.