Optum Health is continuing to ease back on its MedExpress urgent care line of business. There are only 19 centers that remain open, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune, which is an 87% decrease from the 150 locations operating in 2022. Parent company UnitedHealth Group’s executives in a recent call with investors said that some parts of the Optum business aren’t as important for the future as they once were. There is less emphasis now on freestanding urgent care centers, particularly in locations where Optum runs primary and specialty care clinics, they said.
Big fish in the urgent care pond: Urgent care had been part of the Optum provider strategy since 2015 when the organization acquired MedExpress and announced aggressive expansion plans. Additionally, in October, 2024, UPMC announced that its joint venture with GoHealth would be acquiring “a number” of MedExpress centers (ultimately as many as 85 centers) in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Optum’s urgent care portfolio includes MedExpress and Optum-branded centers, ranking in the top 10 of Urgent Care’s Top 100 compiled by JUCM in June 2024.