Walmart Is Replacing 23 In-store Health Centers With Something Special for Seniors

Just a few months ago, Walmart announced it was suddenly shutting down all of its health centers instead of expanding as planned. Now, the retailer has once again changed course and is now partnering with CenterWell, the healthcare service provider owned by Humana Inc., a health insurance company.

Humana will be opening primary care centers focused specifically on seniors, making use of 23 of the spaces formerly occupied by Walmart-owned health centers. The first openings are scheduled to take place in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas.

These clinics will be staffed with care coaches, social workers, and behavioral health specialists to assist with senior-specific problems that need specialized care to be addressed. Humana will also be opening clinics adjacent to Walmart in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Kansas City.

If these new CenterWell senior health facilities do well, they will expand to fill the rest of the vacant Walmart health center spaces. Since these centers are being leased out, there's no word on whether it will help stretch your Walmart budget or not, but it might make senior life easier to get groceries and see a doctor in the same place.

See the locations that might be getting one soon.

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Arkansas

Arkansas is home to three Walmart health centers. While the presence wasn’t great in the retailer's birthplace, the closure of these locations could make accessing affordable health care more challenging for these communities.

Florida

Walmart’s largest health center presence is in the Sunshine State. The goal of these health centers is to connect providers and patients — building connections in the community.

With 23 health centers around the state, Florida residents will probably feel this news the most out of any state.

Georgia

Walmart has 17 health centers in Georgia. This news is a major disappointment for the state, which is ranked 44th for healthcare access and 47th in healthcare affordability across the nation.

The loss of Walmart health centers is likely to perpetuate these standings for Georgia residents.

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Illinois

Illinois’ only remaining Walmart health center is located in Chicago. The impact will likely be small, as Walmart closed other stores and health centers in the area in 2023 — citing the lack of profitability.

Texas

While these health centers don’t have the largest presence in Texas, Walmart had planned to expand widely in the Lone Star State — with 18 new health centers planned for 2024. This abrupt change in direction for the retailer will likely leave many Texans disappointed at the announcement.

Pharmacies still available

Walmart has over 4,500 pharmacies inside stores across the nation. Health centers weren’t an expansion of pharmacy services — these locations offered several same-day services like:

• Same-day primary care
• Primary care by appointment
• Dental care
• Behavioral health appointments
• Labs
• X-rays

The closure of Walmart health centers will not impact pharmacy operations. You will still be able to obtain prescription medications, receive immunizations, and get tests for the flu, strep throat, and COVID-19.

Employee impact

Considering the massive expansion that Walmart had planned for its health centers, this shift will have a significant impact on the staff operating these facilities.

The final date for operations was Friday, June 28th, 2024. In an effort to ease the transition, Walmart has offered the following concessions to current employees of its health centers:

• Associates are able to transfer to another Walmart or Sam’s Club location
• Associates will be paid for 90 days unless they transfer or terminate their employment
• At the end of 90 days, eligible associates will receive severance benefits

Walmart vs. Amazon

Amazon, though primarily an online retailer, is one of Walmart’s biggest competitors. Amazon dove into the healthcare space when it acquired One Medical in 2023.

Walmart's expansion into the healthcare space made sense, given that so many locations already have pharmacy services. With 90% of the U.S. population living within 10 miles of a Walmart, the idea was to become a one-stop shop for all your needs, including healthcare.

Unfortunately, Walmart decided to end the venture completely because it just wasn’t profitable. The company stated:

“We understand that this change will affect lives — the patients who receive care, the associates and providers who deliver care, and the communities who supported us along the way.”

“This is a difficult decision, and like others, the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability that makes the care business unsustainable for us at this time.”

Hopefully, Humana will be able to make the leasing partnership mutually beneficial to both companies, as well as customers.

What’s next for Walmart?

Based on its 2024 announcements, Walmart is heavily investing in technology. From robotic fulfillment centers to AI shopping suggestions, Walmart believes that AI and AR are the future of retail.

Walmart is also focused on expanding its reach. In 2024, the store plans to build or remodel an additional 150 locations.

Bottom line

Walmart is the perfect place to save on everyday essentials , but its move into health care didn’t go as planned. As a result, the big-box store is partnering with an established health insurance company that already runs health centers, and is switching their focus to healthcare for older adults.

Humana has said they expect the new health centers to be fully functional within the first half of 2025, however the financial terms of the lease arrangement have not been publicly disclosed.

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