Here We Go Again: Walmart Takes Another Run at Succeeding as a Healthcare Destination

Walmart has been trying any number of tactics, for years, to become known as a reliable destination for immediate healthcare needs, essentially aspiring to become a rival of urgent care centers in their communities. As JUCM News readers know, one of their most recent efforts saw Walmart Health fail to land in 20 locations (which would have only constituted 0.004% of their 4,700 U.S. anyway). That was followed by a mass exodus by upper management and a pivot to the digital space with its purchase of MeMD. Now they’re hoping standalone clinics in Walmart parking lots, complete with their own entrance and offerings ranging from primary care to dental, will win over healthcare consumers. Walmart has established itself as an unqualified success when it comes to offering a wide array of retail products at affordable prices. As any urgent care professional knows, however, offering a complex and heavily regulated service like healthcare is a very different prospect. What once might have appeared to be a possible threat to urgent care centers has so far proven to be a bust. JUCM has been tracking this story for years. You can read Is Four Times a Charm for Walmart (or, Could Walmart Be a Threat to Urgent Care)? in our archive right now.