Walgreens plans to invest $1.875 million to add full-service primary care clinics to three Jacksonville pharmacies as part of an effort to open 500 to 700 Village Medical centers in the next five years.
The city is reviewing building permit applications for Village Medical clinics at 5340 Soutel Drive in Northwest Jacksonville, 7546 103rd St. in West Jacksonville and 7224 Merrill Road in Arlington at an estimated cost of $625,000 each.
The Soutel Drive location is almost 2,400 square feet, the 103rd Street clinic is 3,000 square feet and the Merrill Road center is almost 3,300 square feet.
Plans show that the Walgreens stores will be remodeled to accommodate a vestibule, patient waiting area, eight exam rooms and support space. It will continue using the remaining existing pharmacy and retail space.
Walgreens spokesperson Jessica Masuga said June 10 that renovations in the Jacksonville stores will be completed in 2022.
In July, Walgreens announced it would invest $1 billion into Village Medical parent company VillageMD over the next three years. VillageMD will invest 80% of that into opening clinics inside Walgreens stores.
Village Medical locations “integrate pharmacists as critical members of VillageMD’s physician-led, multidisciplinary team to provide patients with a full suite of primary care and pharmacy services at convenient Walgreens neighborhood locations,” a December news release said in announcing the pharmacy’s plans to expand the clinic’s footprint.
Walgreens said in July the clinics were ideal for patients with chronic conditions who need multiple daily prescriptions.
The clinics accept “a wide range of health insurance options,” and offer in-person and virtual appointments. Many clinics will be in areas with fewer health care options, the release said.
The initial trial was five in-store clinics that opened in November 2019 in the Houston area.
Walgreens and VillageMD said in July their expanded partnership will open 500 to 700 “Village Medical at Walgreens” physician-led primary care clinics in more than 30 U.S. markets in the following five years, with the intent to build hundreds more after that.
Walgreens and VillageMD announced in December they would open the next 40 Village Medical at Walgreens full-service primary care clinics by the end of summer 2021.
There are 44 Walgreens Village Medical clinics listed on Village Medical’s website, including in St. Cloud in Florida.
Village Medical’s website shows two more Florida locations are coming soon in Kissimmee and Orlando, but none is listed for Jacksonville.