Advocate Health Care, the largest provider of medical care in Chicago, is closing 47 clinics it has operated inside Walgreens stores, the health system said Wednesday.
The move comes as retailers and their health system partners work to come up with a successful healthcare delivery model in drugstores, retail outlets and other places while Walgreens, in particular, is focused on a company turnaround amid hundreds of store closures.
Already, Walgreens has lost billions of dollars on its investment in doctor-staffed clinic operator VillageMD and is working to exit that relationship after the outpatient care provider was slow to attract patients. And Walmart last year shuttered its Walmart Health clinics and about half of them are now under management by health insurer Humana.
Meanwhile, CVS Health has been forging ahead since its $10 billion acquisition of Oak Street Health in 2023 to open senior-focused primary care health centers across the country. Amazon, which also has a relationship with Advocate Health Care that involves referring primary care patients for more specialized care, Wednesday announced it has signed a similar relationship with Montefiore Health System in New York’s Westchester County.
In Advocate’s announcement Wednesday, the healthcare system said it “made the decision to shift operations at our Advocate Clinics at Walgreens in Illinois, effective February 6, 2025.”
“This allows us to focus on additional ways patients prefer to access care, when and where they need it, including expanded virtual services that provide care within the comfort of their own home, as well as convenient access to urgent care and primary care locations in the community,” Advocate said Wednesday. “This also includes our recently announced investment on Chicago’s South Side, where we’re opening Neighborhood Care locations in convenient, familiar settings such as churches and community centers. We’re also enhancing our Imani Village outpatient clinic by adding immediate care with more doctors, expanded services and increased appointment availability.”
Advocate last month said the health system is spending $1 billion to re-invent healthcare on Chicago’s South Side in neighborhoods where there’s a 30-year life-expectancy gap when compared to the more affluent North Side.
Advocate Health Care’s investment will include $300 million in land purchases and related spending to build a new hospital that will replace a facility that is more than a century old. And another more than $500 million will be allocated to expand outpatient care executives say will be “embedded in the community.” Another more than $200 million will be invested in hospital and outpatient programs and services designed in part to address social determinants of health such as expanding access to healthy foods, housing, transportation and prescription drugs.
“All 47 of our clinics in Illinois are staffed by one to two medical office assistants, along with additional clinicians who support virtual care operations,” Advocate said Wednesday. “We are partnering closely with Walgreens to navigate this transition and will support employees by working to find them alternative roles within our organization that best align with their skills and preferences.”
For its part, Walgreens said it was “partnering closely with Advocate to navigate this transition.”
“Walgreens now offers convenient, affordable online doctor visits in Illinois,” Walgreens said Wednesday. “Through Walgreens Virtual Healthcare, patients can see a doctor or nurse practitioner, get a diagnosis and fill prescriptions as needed from the comfort of home for a range of conditions, including urgent care needs, cough, cold and sinus problems, flu, COVID-19, pink eye, allergy and asthma and sexual health. Patients can learn more at walgreens.com/virtualhealthcare.”
