Walmart Health is set to double in size following its expansion into two new states in 2024, the company announced Thursday morning.
Next year, Walmart Health will open 28 locations across Missouri and Arizona while also deepening its presence in Texas. The locations of these centers, the first of which will open in Q1 2024, will be in the metropolitan areas surrounding Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and Kansas City.
By the end of 2024, Walmart projects that it will have more than 75 health centers across the U.S., a sign of continued growth since the debut of its first location in 2019.
The health centers are state-of-the-art facilities that measure approximately 5,750 square feet located inside Walmart Supercenters and feature a suite of health services for customers. These include primary care, dental care, behavioral health care, lab and X-ray, audiology as well as Walmart Health Virtual Care telehealth services.
“With these new locations, we will bring to life some of the feedback we’ve heard from listening to our patients,” Dr. David Carmouche, SVP of omnichannel care at Walmart, said in a statement. “For example, we are changing the physical footprint and layout of the center so patients spend less time in the waiting room and more time with their doctor. We’ve also integrated modern equipment and technology to enable our providers and patients alike to experience best-in-class healthcare technology. This includes integrating Epic’s electronic health record system across our Walmart Health locations.”
With the expansion into two new states, the retail giant continues its push into the healthcare space.
At the end of 2022, Walmart announced that its drone delivery program that began as a pandemic service to deliver at-home COVID-19 tests has expanded across Florida. Additionally, the company said it plans to have DroneUp available across Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
It’s also important to note that Walmart’s expansion plans come as more non-traditional healthcare players make inroads in the industry, especially as it relates to patient care.
Just last month, Amazon closed its nearly $4 billion acquisition of One Medical, the San Francisco-based primary care provider, while CVS announced a more than $10 billion deal for Oak Street Health, which operates nearly 170 value-based primary care centers around the country.
