Walmart to shut all health clinics in US over lack of profitability
Source: Reuters
April 30, 2024 1:57 PM EDT Updated 4 hours ago
April 30 (Reuters) - Walmart (WMT.N) said on Tuesday it will close all 51 of its health clinics and shut its virtual health care operations, saying it could not see it as a sustainable business model to continue.
"Healthcare is expensive to run. We were finding that the increased labor and operating costs environment, like with reimbursement, both public and private, made it difficult (to run the business) and obvious we had to close," Walmart spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told Reuters. The company said in a statement those challenges created an environment where it saw a "lack of profitability" that made the care business "unsustainable for us at this time."
Companies such as Walmart, Walgreens, Amazon and CVS have expanded into providing healthcare services during the past five years, seeing opportunities in the highly fragmented U.S. system. But it has not been clear that consumers want such services from retailers or that they are profitable. Walgreens, for instance, is planning to close 160 of its VillageMD primary care clinics after it recorded a $5.8 billion impairment charge on its investment in VillageMD.
Amazon in February said it would cut a few hundred jobs across its healthcare units, including clinic operator One Medical which it acquired for $3.5 billion last year. And Walmart's sudden decision to close all its 51 health clinics and telehealth operations marks a startling about-face from its plan last year to nearly double the number of these health centers across the U.S. by 2024.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/walmart-close-51-us-health-centers-2024-04-30/
jimfields33
(16,672 posts)used it.
XanaDUer2
(11,142 posts)Sounded like a good idea
ShazzieB
(16,971 posts)But this area is well supplied with urgent care facilities, so they had a ton of competition. It's probably like that lots pf places.
bucolic_frolic
(44,024 posts)If Walmart can't find a way to make that racket work, there's just no hope for it.
cloudbase
(5,552 posts)It looked like a one-stop shop for medical, dental, and behavioral health needs.
Mr. Mustard 2023
(144 posts)....shocked delivering health care to humans doesn't lend it self to big box store retail sales tactics.
I remember when The John McCain, who was a jerk and I will not defer criticism of the Republicon, said how Walmart was the future of health care delivery in the U.S.
Location and population matter of course, but Walmart isn't going to make any effort to, you know actually provide health care - if it hurts it's bottom line.
The love affair some in this country have their phantom "free market" is astonishing. I know many who would rather pay more and receive less services than move to a single payer system, i.e. Medicare.
I'm done with sociopaths and idiots.
bigtime
(726 posts)Healthcare should be a human right and not a for-profit business.
area51
(11,976 posts)it's not a good idea to have healthcare as a for-profit business.
walmart has a fiduciary responsibility to profit. but greed has tainted many many many ceos.
rarely do we find a gem, for example, the ceo for Arizon Ice Tea kept their price at 99$ for 20 years. if i couldn't wait to brew my high mountain taiwanese green tea, AZ green tea is my go to.
nowforever
(332 posts)Providing affordable health care for your loyal patrons is just the right thing to do. It's sad they cannot think beyond their bottom line.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,346 posts)when they came in to visit the clinic.
hatrack
(59,685 posts)mysteryowl
(7,493 posts)Walmart is really creepy. They buy life insurance policies on some of their staff and collect when they die!
RipVanWinkle
(242 posts)With access to the health care records of its Flaming Cheetos eating and Pepsi drinking customers, Walmart could determine which of those customers had shortened their lifespans. Walmart could then had purchased life insurance policies on those customers and collected the payments from the policies after those customers had passed away.
appalachiablue
(41,399 posts)cstanleytech
(26,475 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,519 posts)$billions of imported junk every day so we can throw.....
$billions of imported junk into landfills every day.....
Mr. Mustard 2023
(144 posts)...to go to a Walmart which I know sounds like weasel words, but I've been to one maybe 3 times of four years, all I see is cheap plastic crap, wrapped in plastic and behind glass or plastic sheets.
It is all junk. I saw a bottle of shampoo packed in a two sheet piece of plastic about 8.5 x 11 to protect against theft.
We're destroying our planet for this. I cannot believe this. I cannot believe it. I watch in amazement everyday as the earth heats, and wildlife dies, as food become scarce and single use plastics choke out life on earth.
I have hard time pretending days are normal, as people act like nothing is wrong.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,346 posts)of all the stock. If this decision was made, it's because THEY want it.
Lonestarblue
(10,497 posts)Assuming that Biden wins and Democrats maintain control of both houses of Congress, I hope that plans for a transition to universal healthcare get started. The for-profit model is a disaster.
RobertDevereaux
(1,874 posts)Had annual physical a few weeks ago.
Great doc retired, reassigned me to a new doc next year, at VillageMed.
There it goes.
AllyCat
(16,367 posts)And yet, here we are.