Walgreens Rebrands Clinics Prior To Commencement Of New Federal Healthcare Laws

By Sam Lewis

Drugstore chain announces “Healthcare Clinic” is the new “Take Care Clinic”

Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, with nearly 8,100 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, has announced it will change the name of its “Take Care Clinic” to “Healthcare Clinic” in an effort to better reflect these locations’ growing medical service assets as consumers seek ways to decrease their costs of medical care.

Along with the name change, the retailer will not only be treating common ailments like strep throat, pink eye, and sprained ankles, but will move into prevention, monitoring, and maintenance of chronic conditions like arthritis, diabetes, and asthma. Take Care Health Systems, LLC, which staffs advanced medical personnel, like nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants for Walgreens, will remain the managing entity of the Healthcare Clinics. Across all stores, Walgreens pharmacy, Walgreens Infusion Services, Walgreen Specialty Pharmacy and other lines of medical business, employ 70,000+ health care professionals. The rebranding is expected to be complete by the end of August. (Walgreens did not disclose how much money was invested into the rebranding effort.)

Walgreens competes directly with clinics operated by CVS/Caremark, Wal-Mart, and even grocery store chains such as Kroger. Retailers are increasingly seeing themselves as a primary care option for aging baby boomers and the millions of people expected to receive healthcare insurance as the new Affordable Care Act launches in January. As millions of Americans gain healthcare, the shortage of primary care physicians is only expected to become shorter. As more Americans receive newly granted benefits, doctor’s offices will gain new patients quickly, turning away patients they cannot handle to look for other options. The hope is for retailers, like Walgreens’ “Healthcare Clinic,” to capitalize upon this.