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Wal-Mart To Open In-Store Health Clinics

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

April 25, 2005

Wal-Mart • General Complaints • Black Friday • Customer Service • Dangerous Products, Conditions • Grocery/SuperCenters • Lawn & Garden • Monogram Credit Card Bank • Pet Department • Pharmacy • Photos • Pricing Disputes, Errors • Returns • Sporting Goods • Tire & Lube • Vision Center • WalMart.com --- • Employees Complaints --- News • Wal-Mart Gaining On Grocery Chains • Black Friday Ads Target Wal-Mart • Wal-Mart Era Is Over, Wall Street Journal Declares • Consumers Respond to Toxic Wal-Mart Pet Toy Stories • Wal-Mart Expands $4 Generic Program • Lab Tests Find Lead, Other Toxins in Pet Toys Sold at Wal-Mart • Wal-Mart Plans Its Own Debit Card • Wal-Mart To Open In-Store Health Clinics • Wal-Mart Gives Up Bank Plans • Congressman Challenges Wal-Mart Banking Plans • Wal-Mart Expands Generic Drug Plan • Christmas Returns to Wal-Mart • Wal-Mart Jump-Starts the Holiday Shopping Season • Wal-Mart Cuts Generic Rx Prices To $4 In Florida • Wal-Mart Ending Its Layaway Program • FDIC Puts Retailers' Banking Plans on Hold • Wal-Mart/Sam's Club Settle with Connecticut on Pricing Violations • Congress May End Wal-Mart's Banking Dreams • Arizona Charges Wal-Mart, AutoZone with Consumer Fraud • Michigan Fines Wal-Mart $1.5 Million for Item Pricing Violations • Opposition Grows as FDIC Examines Wal-Mart Banking Bid • Wal-Mart's Banking Plans Draw Critics • Michigan Challenges Wal-Mart on Item Pricing • Wal-Mart May Stock "Emergency" Contraceptives • Black Friday Gives Wal-Mart a Black Eye • Connecticut Probes Wal-Mart Pricing • Wal-Mart Pushing Extended Warranties on Electronics • Bankers Oppose Wal-Mart's Entry into Banking • Wal-Mart Target Of Union-Led Boycott • Wal-Mart to Pay $14.5 Million for California Gun Law Violations • Wal-Mart Target Of Union-Led Boycott • Wal-Mart Tries to Buff Its Image

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., may have bowed to opposition and decided not to get into banking, but that's not stopping it from moving into health care. The giant retailer said it intends to contract with local hospitals and other organizations to open as many as 400 in-store health clinics over the next two to three years.

If current market forces continue, Wal-Mart said it might provide space for up to 2,000 clinics over the next five to seven years. Wal-Mart president and CEO Lee Scott made the announcement at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C Tuesday.

"We think the clinics will be a great opportunity for our business. But most importantly, they are going to provide something our customers and communities desperately need -- affordable access at the local level to quality health care," Scott said.

The company began a pilot project in 2005, when it leased space in a few stores for medical clinics. Currently, there are 76 such clinics in stores spread over 12 states. Wal-Mart said the latest effort is an expansion of its campaign to offer lower prices on generic drugs. The idea, said Scott, is to make health services more affordable.

"The fact is the time for politics in today's debate on health care is long past. The time for real and meaningful change has come," Scott said.

The health clinics, which will lease space in Wal-Mart stores, will be managed by local or regional hospitals and/or other organizations that are independent of Wal-Mart, according to Scott.

He says surveys in existing clinics revealed more than half of those who visited a clinic said they were uninsured.

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