Walmart will open six new Walmart Health clinics in Atlanta before the year ends. This would bring its total number of clinics to 13 by 2021.
The retail giant confirmed the launch of six additional Walmart Health clinics in the greater Atlanta area by the end of 2020.
The announcement comes after stating it will enter the Florida market with Walmart Health in 2021. Walmart will begin in the Jacksonville area. The company also announced in June that it will open two clinics in the Chicago area by the end of the year.
Walmart remains the biggest private-sector employer and the largest grocer in the US, but is predicted to surface as a major health-care player.
Walmart Health clinics provide expansive services, such as primary care, X-rays, dental exams, hearing services, and mental health counseling. The clinics started opening last fall. Walmart stores already have pharmacies and optical centers.
Walmart Health clinics, ranging from 5,200 square feet to 8,800 square feet, include exam rooms, a waiting area and bigger rooms, such as nutrition seminars and yoga sessions. The clinics are manned by doctors, counselors, dentists, nurse practitioners, and optometrists.
Patients pay a flat fee for a doctor’s visit or other services: an annual checkup for an adult is $30 while a strep test or mono test is $20. A dentist exam is $25, including X-rays. A 45-minute counseling session costs $45.
Services
Walmart is looking at related perks to be different from its e-commerce competitor Amazon.
The retailer is creating a subscription-based service called Walmart+. However, details about this service, such as date of the launch, costs, and benefits, are not yet available.
Walmart’s shares increased by 7% in early July on a report by Recode that the service would be introduced this month. Citing unnamed resources, the report says customers can apply for the membership program for $98 per year. The service includes same-day delivery of groceries, discounts at Walmart gas stations, and other perks.
There is no confirmation yet about any health-care perks that will be part of Walmart+. Meanwhile, the 1.5 million US employees of Walmart have access to Doctor on Demand if they are enrolled in a health benefits plan. Sam’s Club, Walmart's membership-only stores, partnered with a telemedicine start-up called 98point6.
Walmart’s new locations in Georgia will be in Newnan, Fayetteville, McDonough, Cartersville, Marietta and Woodstock, company spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said. All of those cities and towns are in the greater Atlanta area.
According to James Gardner, a Boston-based retail health-care consultant, Walmart will be able to test the success of its clinics in different kinds of markets.
He said that Walmart has three major advantages in the health-care industry: low prices, doctor-led clinics, and a ready-made audience of customers.
“I can imagine shopping while your spouse is seeing the doctor,” he said. “There are just a lot of permutations that will make it fit into people’s lives really seamlessly.”
