Content about Clinic

YORK, Pa. — WellSpan Health is planning to open this fall three CareExpress walk-in health clinics in York County, Pa., of which two clinics will be located inside Giant Food Stores.

According to WellSpan Health's website, the first clinic is slated to open in DJ Plaza in September. The other two clinic locations will open in October within the Giant Food Stores.


One thing that was pretty clear in the research we conducted for the 2011 Retail Clinician Reader Survey is that an increasing number of retail-based health practitioners want the clinics they work for to expand the scope of services beyond acute care. Many readers said the one thing that would make them even more satisfied about the work they do is “moving beyond sick care,” as one reader noted, to more preventive/wellness-oriented services, including chronic disease management programs for diabetes, hypertension and more.

NEW ORLEANS — Take Care Health Systems, which is owned by Walgreens, has entered a collaborative agreement with Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and LSU Healthcare Network to enhance coordination of care in the greater New Orleans region.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Fitness and nutrition programs have been core parts of employer-based wellness programs before, including the ones Take Care operates for such employers as Harrah's Casinos. But, by taking an ownership position in the company that provides the fitness offering, Walgreens/Take Care has the opportunity to look for creative ways to bring new wellness-type programs to its stores through its retail clinics, perhaps even as part of a larger weight-loss management program.

ORLANDO, Fla. — With retail clinic sales rising an estimated 81% per year since 2005 and sales expansion projected to continue in the coming years, according to recent research, The Drug Store News Group and Retail Clinician magazine, in partnership with the Convenient Care Association, will host the fourth annual Retail Clinician Education Congress in August.


WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The news that MinuteClinic has formed clinical affiliations with OhioHealth and Cleveland Clinic Florida is important because it further signifies that retail-based clinics are more than just clinics.

(THE NEWS: MinuteClinic, OhioHealth enter strategic clinical affiliation. For the full story, click here.)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Take Care Health Systems and Memorial Health on Tuesday announced a new relationship that will increase opportunities for clinical collaboration and improve patient access to high-quality, convenient and affordable healthcare options in the greater Jacksonville region.

LAKELAND, Fla. — Supermarket chain Publix has confirmed the termination of the lease arrangements with The Little Clinic within select store locations in Florida and Georgia.

The move marks the end of Publix’s five-year partnership with The Little Clinic, which is part of Solera Capital’s portfolio. Solera Capital had acquired The Little Clinic’s predecessor in 2005.

In 2010, private investment fund Solera Capital sold the remainder of its Little Clinic business to Kroger. Those Kroger-owned Little Clinic locations are not closing.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The emergence of the reports by Kalorama Information and Rasmussen Reports are important because they underscore the important role that retail-based healthcare clinics — and the nurse practitioners who work within them — increasingly play in the nation's healthcare system.

(THE NEWS: Kalorama projects retail clinic growth. For the full story, click here)


In response to the news last month that Rite Aid named Tony Montini EVP merchandising, DSN shared this exchange with an online reader:


Dear DSN;


I am a Rite Aid pharmacist in the small desert town of Needles, Calif. Needles is a poor town with a lot of our business being Medi-Cal — state Medicaid. ... This is the rub: There are no Medi-Cal providers in the city! Most people have to go to the emergency room, or those with Medicare D plans [travel] 20 miles across the Colorado River to Arizona. ...


WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The news that CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic has entered into a clinical affiliation with Advocate Health Care and Advocate Physician Partners is important as it reflects a larger focus within the U.S. healthcare landscape: medical homes, or for a growing number of Americans, the lack thereof.