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Walgreens Clinics Join Trend

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By MARY SHEDDEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

TAMPA - The influx of convenient care clinics continues in the Tampa Bay area.
Walgreens will open nine Take Care Health Clinics in the Tampa market as part of a nationwide push to add 400 centers to its 6,000 locations in the next year. The local clinics should open by November, company spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce said. She declined to identify specific locations.

In recent years, major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Publix Super Markets have introduced their own clinics. Walgreens' top competitor, CVS, operates Minute Clinic operations in five Tampa Bay area stores. Independent retail clinics also have started to crop up in stand-alone locations.

The retail clinic concept is attractive to customers looking for convenient treatment of minor ailments such as strep throat or poison ivy. Nurse practitioners staff the seven-day-a-week operations and are able to prescribe remedies for the ailments.

The walk-up visits cost on average between $50 and $80. Many major health insurance plans are accepted, as are Medicare and Medicaid.

Bruce said Florida's large population and booming senior population make it a key market for Walgreens' new clinics. The first wave of Take Care Clinic expansions will also take place in the Orlando and Miami markets, she said Monday.

The link between major pharmacy chains and convenient care clinics is growing more obvious. Walgreens purchased Take Care Health Clinics, which has 63 locations, this year. CVS purchased the Minute Clinic chain in the past few years.

The clinics also serve as a customer magnet for retailers with existing pharmacies. For example, Publix has opened 21 Little Clinics in its stores since 2006, including five in the Tampa Bay area.

The nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, also is pushing the retail health clinic model. Since 2005, Wal-Mart has added 78 of the independently operated clinics in its stores, including six in Florida, a company representative said. One is in Tampa, on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.

Also, in April, Wal-Mart announced plans to expand its in-store clinics through partnerships with hospitals and health organizations. Wal-Mart President and CEO Lee Scott said up to 400 clinics could open in the next three years, with a long-term plan to have 2,000 clinics in stores across the country.

Reporter Mary Shedden can be reached at mshedden@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7365.

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