Walmart announced April 30 it will close its 51 health care centers in Florida, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri and Texas.
Walmart Health said an unworkable business model is the reason for the closures.
“The challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability that make the care business unsustainable for us at this time,” according to a news release.
It also is closing its virtual care services. The release did not give closing dates.
There are seven health care centers, all next to Walmart Supercenters, in the Jacksonville area:
• 11900 Atlantic Blvd.
• 10991 San Jose Blvd.
• 12100 Lem Turner Road.
• 7075 Collins Road.
• 6830 Normandy Blvd.
• 4250 Philips Highway.
• 1586 Branan Field Road in Middleburg.
Walmart will continue to operate its 4,600 pharmacies and 3,000 optical centers.
“We continue to offer immunizations and have grown to provide Testing and Treatment services, access to specialty pharmacy medication and care, as well as other essential services such as medication therapy management and a variety of health screenings,” the release said
Walmart Health began opening care centers in 2019. They are from 6,000 to 7,000 square feet.
They offer primary care, chronic condition care, labs and X-rays, dental, hearing tests and optical. They were usually opened in areas with a shortage of medical services.
They offer service to those with no insurance or who are underinsured. The centers also had low co-pays.
The Walmart Health system was electronically connected so a patient’s medical records were available to medical personnel at any Walmart Health location.
“As the population in Florida continues to grow at more than double the rate of the rest of the United States, so does the need to increase access to quality health care,” Dr. David Carmouche, senior vice president of Omnichannel Care Offerings at Walmart, said in an Oct. 26, 2022, news release.
Walmart had revenue of $648 billion in the fiscal year 2024, according to the release. It has more than 10,500 stores and employs almost 2.1 million associates.