- Retail giant Walmart announced Tuesday it will be closing down its 51 healthcare clinics across the US, as well as its virtual care service. This comes a month after the company announced it would add 22 new locations this year and more next year. CNBC (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- The clinics, whose services include primary care, labs, X-rays, and dental, optical, and hearing services, were located in Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, and Texas, many of which were in small towns that lacked access to other quality care options. New York Times (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- The now-defunct new locations were going to be in Dallas and Houston, Texas as well as Phoenix, Ariz., and Kansas City, Mo. The company cited a "challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs" that caused a "lack of profitability." NPR Online News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- While the primary care centers are closing, the date of which is yet unknown, Walmart will still run its roughly 4.6K pharmacies and over 3K vision centers across the US. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- CVS, Walgreens, and Amazon have all announced plans to open their own clinics, including Amazon's $3.9B acquisition of primary care company One Medical. Walmart said it plans to focus on its advertising and third-party marketplace ventures. CNBC (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- However, Walgreens also recently announced the closure of 140 of its VillageMD primary care clinics, with plans to close 20 more to increase profits. That decision came after it announced a $5.8B loss in VillageMD's most recent quarterly valuation. NPR Online News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
Narrative A:
- Walmart didn't want to close its health centers, but, unfortunately, any business model needs to have profitability to remain afloat. However, this doesn't mean Walmart will stop providing other valuable health services, including vaccinations, testing and treatment centers, medication therapy, and over 4K pharmacy locations.
CORPORATE
Narrative B:
- It's not that Walmart couldn't profit from its health centers, it's that it couldn't profit as much as it wanted to. These health centers have been a lifeline for countless Americans, particularly in rural communities, and corporate greed has just ripped the rug right out from under those vulnerable populations.
ONCLIVE
Nerd narrative:
- There is an 18% chance that Walmart stores will return to 24-hour service before 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)