Walmart Health is planning its next expansion.
The retail giant said Wednesday that it will open an additional 16 health centers in Florida over the next year, focused in the Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa markets. The company said the locations are slated to open their doors by the fall of 2023.
Walmart Health opened its first clinics in Florida earlier this year and has seen success to date in reducing wait times and improving patient experience. Wait times at the Florida health centers are about half of the national average, Walmart said, and more than 96% of patients who have visited the clinics said they felt cared for during their appointments. About half of the appointments in the centers are for primary care or chronic condition management, Walmart said.
The health clinics are located next to Walmart's retail stores and provide a range of services including primary care, labs, X-rays, dental care, behavioral health care, hearing care, select specialty care and community health services.
“As the population in Florida continues to grow at more than double the rate of the rest of the United States, so does the need to increase access to quality health care,” said David Carmouche, M.D., senior vice president of omnichannel care offerings at Walmart, in the release. “With these 16 new Walmart Health centers across the state, even more Floridians will have easy access to a wide range of high-quality health services at convenient hours and easy to understand prices.”
At present, Walmart operates 32 health centers in Florida, Arkansas, Illinois, Georgia and Texas. Beginning in January, eligible Medicare Advantage (MA) patients at some of the Florida and Georgia locations will be treated in value-based care arrangements developed in partnership with UnitedHealth Group. The retailer inked a 10-year deal with the healthcare giant that aims to drive value-based care uptake among its clinicians, and the two also have plans to launch a new MA plan.
Walmart Health has put a focus on "omnichannel care" through both its in-person clinics and new virtual options, including telehealth and a tech stack born from its partnership with Epic. The company has also entered the employer and insurance markets as part of its push into healthcare.