Walmart is continuing its push into imaging, opening its fifth health center Wednesday in Newnan, Georgia.
Located about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, the “state-of-the-art” facility offers services including x-ray and diagnostics, primary care, labs and dental, the retail giant said. This marks the fourth such Walmart Health location in the Peach State, with the other operating in Elm Springs, Arkansas.
“As we expand across Georgia, we are committed to bringing our communities quality healthcare, and we are excited to offer Newnan specialized community health resources, online education and in-center workshops to educate the community about preventative health and wellness,” Marcus Osborne, senior VP of Walmart Health, said in a statement.
The company operates nine additional “Care Clinic” locations in Georgia and Texas, but those provide a shorter list of options that excludes x-rays, according to its website. The first Walmart Health opened in Dallas, Georgia, back in September 2019, with the second following in February. Each location is operated by qualified healthcare professionals including physicians, with community health workers on site to help customers navigate their visit.
During the corporation’s earnings call last month, officials said Walmart remains “committed to healthcare,” despite any challenges presented by the pandemic. They’re already planning additional clinic locations in Chicago and hope these services catch on with consumers. Their recently opened site in Elm Springs, Arkansas, is smaller than others, noted President and CEO Doug McMillon. He said Walmart is still working to figure out the right square footage to meet needs for equipment and such
“It's been interesting to watch how customers are interacting with that experience during the COVID-19 environment,” McMillon told investors Aug. 18, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the call. “The team has done a great job, and the medical doctor and the other professionals, in the clinic of keeping people safe, and demand is still strong in an environment where people are not necessarily taking advantage of a lot of preventative care. So, it's really, I think, interesting and exciting for us to try and figure this out, and even during this COVID-19 period of time, we're learning and figuring it out.”
Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart currently operates 11,500 stores under 56 banners in 27 countries. Each week, about 265 million customers visit its stores, and the corporation logged $524 billion in revenue during fiscal 2020.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.