Walmart Health will expand to Oklahoma with four new clinics

This comes after it announced new facilities in Missouri & Arizona, which will double its footprint

In 2019, Walmart opened its first Walmart Health center in Dallas, Georgia; it has since grown to 32 locations across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas. According to Forbes, it could become the largest primary care provider in the country, on top of running one of the largest pharmacy chains in the US.

Now the company is set to expand to a slew of new states in the coming year, announcing this week that it will be opening four new Walmart Health centers in the Oklahoma City-area in 2024; this follows an announcement in March that it would also be opening sites in Missouri and Arizona, as well as deepening its presence in Texas, which Walmart Health said would nearly double its footprint. 

Walmart Health offers primary and urgent care, labs, X-ray and diagnostics, behavioral health, dental and hearing services all in facilities located next door to their Walmart Supercenters. Walmart Health offers omnichannel access to care seven days a week at in-person centers and Walmart Health Virtual Care.

The four new facilities in Oklahoma will be approximately 5,750 square feet and will feature Walmart Health’s full suite of health services, which includes primary care, labs, X-ray and EKG, behavioral health, dental, hearing, select specialty services, community health and telehealth, though the company says that these services may vary by location. 

Each of the health centers will integrate technology, including Epic’s electronic health record system.

Walmart already has more than 134 retail locations and 34,769 associates in the state of  Oklahoma, which currently ranks 43rd in the U.S. for number of physicians per capita.

In addition to the expansion in Oklahoma, Walmart also plans to open 10 locations in the Dallas metro area, eight locations in the Houston metro area, six locations in the Phoenix metro area, and four locations in Kansas City metro area. The first of these new Walmart Health centers will open in the first quarter of 2024. 

“Walmart Health exists to help Walmart customers live better by providing convenient access to affordable, high quality healthcare services for both insured and uninsured Oklahomans alike. Knowing that access to comprehensive primary care, dental care, and behavioral health services is a challenge in many communities, it is our hope that this one-stop model will help solve this challenge for our neighbors in Oklahoma City," Dr. David Carmouche, Senior Vice President of Omnichannel Care Offerings at Walmart, said in a statement.

"Providing these services in a place where many already live and shop and co-locating them by pharmacy and vision services and next to healthy foods in the Walmart grocery section is intentional. We can coordinate unique and impactful healthcare experiences.”

In addition to its health clinics, Walmart's other health initiatives have included the acquisition  of Memomi, an augmented reality optical tech company, last year as a way to offer personalized, affordable access to optical care. 

In September, Walmart and UnitedHealth Group entered into a 10-year long relationship to promote preventative care for seniors through value-based care arrangements. The partnership, which is expected to kick off next year, will see 15 Walmart Health locations in Florida and Georgia, serving seniors and Medicare beneficiaries in value-based arrangements through multiple Medicare Advantage plans; these locations are expected to open in 2023, with promises of expansion into new geographies over time, with the goal of eventually reaching hundreds of thousands of MA members.

In October, Walmart launched the Walmart Healthcare Research Institute (WHRI) to promote equitable clinical trials. Initial partners for WHRI include clinical research organizations, pharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers, such as CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services and Laina Enterprises.

In 2021, the company launched its private brand analog insulin, which is available exclusively through Walmart’s private ReliOn brand. That includes analog insulin vials and FlexPen, which Walmart said would save customers between 58% to 75% off the cash price of branded analog insulin products.

(Image source: corporate.walmart.com)