Walmart is pushing ahead with its in-store health clinics and said Thursday it plans to open 28 more including 18 in Texas’ two largest metro areas.
Dallas-Fort Worth will get 10 Walmart Health clinics in 2024 and eight are planned for the Houston area also next year. Six will open in Phoenix and four in Kansas City, Missouri.
Walmart hasn’t yet said which stores will get the new clinics, but soon it plans to begin recruiting for 300 health care jobs in D-FW and 240 in Houston.
Walmart, Walgreens and CVS have all been moving into the patient care business in recent years by partnering with other companies and making acquisitions. Amazon closed its deal in February to buy primary care provide One Medical, which has opened three free-standing clinics in Dallas. VillageMD, which is majority owned by Walgreens, has opened dozens of clinics in D-FW, many in areas where healthcare facilities are scarce. Store pharmacies have been key links in dispensing all kinds of vaccinations over the years, including since the pandemic started, and now retailers want more of the primary and urgent care business.
“Everyone is doing their own thing, but for us, we’ve got a lot of stores in Texas and a lot of associates in Texas and a lot of customers in Texas and they trust us,” said Dr. David Carmouche, senior vice president at Walmart Health. “We think they want affordable basic health care from us.”
Walmart has 176,000 employees in Texas and operates 592 Walmart, Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Clubs.
The largest U.S. retailer formed its Walmart Health division in 2019 after trying smaller primary care clinics in about 1,500 square feet of store space. Four of those are in Texas at Walmarts in Garland, Royse City, Tyler and Palestine and they have been rebranded as Walmart Health. Those facilities opened in 2014 as the retailer was exploring the idea of patient care in stores.
Walmart Health clinics offer both primary and urgent care services and average about 5,750 square feet. On-site labs, X-ray and EKG machines and treatment for behavioral health, dental, hearing and other services are part of each location.
So far locations are in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Florida and Walmart said it expects to have 75 operating in the U.S. by the end of 2024.
Walmart Health clinics take insurance but also list prices for people who don’t. Sick or injury visits are $100, annual check-up for children is $90, a Lipid panel lab test is $29 and a pap smear is $50 to $70.
Price transparency is part of the program, Dr. Carmouche said. Dental crowns are priced at $750 and root canals are $600 to $850.
Walmart’s own employees are a key population using the facilities, he said. “Our general philosophy is that we want to keep health care affordable. Where we can pass along value to consumers we will, and we’ll price responsibly so that we can continue to grow new centers.”
