This morning, Walmart said that all of their health centers across the country would be closing. This goes against their plans to bring their low prices to the medical and dental tools in a big way.
Walmart is closing more than fifty stores in Illinois, Florida, Arkansas, and Texas. The business did say that this would not effect its pharmacies or eye care centers.
Walmart said it was a “difficult decision” to close the stores and basically blamed a broken business model. In their own words, “the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs” meant that they couldn’t run a business that made money.
This happened not long after Walmart said they would be opening more clinics. This shows how hard it is to improve healthcare in the United States because it can be expensive and hard to understand.
Walmart opened its first health center in Georgia five years ago. Since then, the big box store has kept opening clinics in different parts of the country. A lot of the time, these clinics were inside or next to Walmart shops. They provided medical, dental, therapy, x-rays, flu shots, and other services.
Check-ups cost $30, therapy sessions last 45 minutes and cost $45, and teeth cleanings cost $25. These services were cheaper than what you’d find at a normal clinic.
Walmart had to deal with a lot of problems when they opened their clinics, such as competition, keeping staff during COVID-19, and making sure their shelves were always filled. Walmart’s Health sector has also had problems with leadership, as they’ve had more than one boss.
