SERVICES SPOTLIGHT

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Wuesthoff Health System announced the organizations' newest offering of health care services – “The Clinic at Walmart” operated by Wuesthoff Health System. The clinic is scheduled to open in December in the Walmart SuperCenter on Merritt Island, Florida.

Alicia Ledlie, senior director of health business development for Wal-Mart, said walk-in medical clinics would look like the mockup behind her, in a warehouse in Bentonville, Ark." Source: NYT online.

The clinic will provide access to basic health care services such as check-ups, immunizations, screenings and minor injuries. The walk-in health clinic is the first of five clinics (in Brevard County) to be owned and operated by Wuesthoff Health System.  The clinic will be open for walk-in service seven days a week.

For customers who are seeking healthcare, especially during evening hours or on weekends, clinics play a key role in the health care system.

These clinics help keep people out of overcrowded emergency rooms – ten to 15 percent of clinic customers surveyed said they would have used an emergency room had the clinic in Walmart not been available; while another five to ten percent would have gone without treatment entirely, potentially leading to more serious complications down the road.

“By joining with Walmart to operate “The Clinic at Walmart,” Wuesthoff Health System is one step closer in helping to ensure the health and wellness of our community,” said Lisa Crites, Wuesthoff Health System associate director of media strategy.

“Our clinic will be staffed with licensed health care providers, even on nights and weekends, so families can receive quality care without a long wait. It also helps ease the burden on our emergency rooms, which aren’t designed to treat everyday illnesses such as sore throats.”

“We are constantly looking for ways to add value for our customers and, with this clinic, we hope to provide Brevard County customers with affordable, accessible and convenient health care,” said Bruce Shepard, Wal-Mart’s director of health business development.

In addition to enhancing the ‘one-stop shopping’ experience for customers, The Clinic at Walmart offers access to acute and preventive care for common health ailments treatable without urgent or emergency care, including sore throats, sinus infections, upper respiratory infections, earaches, bladder infections, insect bites and stings, cholesterol screening, blood sugar testing, vaccinations, drug screening and routine physicals.

With the opening of this clinic, there will be 50 in-store clinics in Walmart SuperCenters across 14 states.  For further information about “The Clinic at Walmart,” log on to www.walmart.com/clinics.

Wuesthoff Health System will open additional clinics inside Walmart Supercenters in Cocoa, Palm Bay, Melbourne, and Titusville iover the next two years.

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