Wal-Mart to open 400 in-store clinics

[Amelia]

Wal-Mart to open 400 in-store clinics

Tue Apr 24, 2007

By Nicole Maestri

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Tuesday that it will contract with local hospitals and other organizations to open as many as 400 in-store health clinics in the next two to three years.

Should current market forces continue, the world's largest retailer said up to 2,000 clinics could be in Wal-Mart stores over the next five to seven years.

Wal-Mart said the effort marks an expansion of a pilot program it started in 2005, when it leased space within its stores to medical clinics. Currently, it said 76 clinics are operating inside Wal-Mart stores in 12 states.

It has said the clinics are expected to boost the health of its shoppers and should also help sales by drawing consumers into its stores.

"We think the clinics will be a great opportunity for our business. But most importantly, they are going to provide something our customers and communities desperately need -- affordable access at the local level to quality health care," said Wal-Mart Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott in a statement.

Wal-Mart has endured criticism over the years from labor unions that say it pays inadequate wages and pushes employees onto government aid programs.

The company has tried to counter such attacks, taking steps like selling generic drugs for $4 per prescription, and joining with the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union, one of its most vocal labor foes, to call for universal health-care coverage for all Americans by 2012.

The retailer said on Tuesday that $4 prescriptions now account for more than 35 percent of all prescriptions filled at Wal-Mart, and nearly 30 percent of the $4 prescriptions are filled without insurance.

Wal-Mart said the health clinics, which will lease space in its stores, will be managed by local or regional hospitals and/or other organizations that are independent of Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is not alone in pursuing these clinics. Drug store operators like CVS/Caremark Corp. and Walgreen Co are also putting clinics in their stores, hoping to attract Americans looking for less expensive treatment options amid soaring health-care costs.

Wal-Mart shares fell 1 percent to $48.45 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.

[Dr. Shane]

Quote:

joining with the 1.8 million-member Service Employees International Union, one of its most vocal labor foes, to call for universal health-care coverage for all Americans by 2012.

This is big! I did not know this. Wal-Mart is a big player in the pharmacy business and if they are pushing for universal health-care coverage that certainly doesn't hurt the cause.

Quote:

Wal-Mart shares fell 1 percent to $48.45 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.

:sad Yes, I still have shares I paid $65 a share for.

[Robert]

Yes, I still have shares I paid $65 a share for.

Oh...now I understand your strong Wally World bias!

[Robert]

Quote:

Wal-Mart to open 400 in-store clinics

Practice sin on the one hand and on the other look good....Hmmm?

[Dr. Shane]

Let's not get the cart before the horse. I bought shares in Wal-Mart because I support what they do. I do not support what they do because I bought shares. I think it is great that poor families today can live a better lifestyle then when I was a child.

America owes a great debt to Wal-Mart. After 9/11 and when the price of fuel went up, Wal-Mart forced their suppliers not to raise their cost. Wal-Mart and the major car manufacturers did more stimulate the economy then the government could have done. Don't get me wrong, I give President Bush his share of the credit too, but Wal-Mart and the major car manufacturers arguably had a being impact on the economy then the tax cuts.

[Barbara]

I think it is silly that so many people hate wal mart. For me I shop there cause I want to suport my town, I also like that it only take one stop to do all my shoping then having to run over to this store for this and that store for this thing and yet another store for clothing. If you look to close at any company you will see bad and good things.