Walmart shoppers in parts of Maine will now be able to get basic health services, thanks to health clinics opening in several stores.
Maine hospitals employ more than 78 percent of the state's primary care physicians, so it's not surprising that it was a hospital system that partnered with Walmart to bring primary care services to the stores.
On Nov. 9, The Clinic at Walmart,” operated by a subsidiary of Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) opened in the Walmart Supercenter, 900 Stillwater Avenue in Bangor. The clinic provides fast, affordable access to basic health care services such as check-ups, immunizations, screenings and minor injuries. The walk-in health clinic is the first to be owned and operated by EMMC in a Maine Walmart. The hospital will open a second clinic at the Walmart in Brewer, opening in January. New clinics in Palmyra (opening in January) and Presque Isle (opening in December), will be operated by Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, through Sebasticook Valley Hospital and The Aroostook Medical Center, respectively.
The Bangor clinic is walk-in service Monday – Friday from 10 am – 8 pm, Saturday from 10 am – 6 pm, and on Sundays from 12 – 6 pm. For busy customers who are seeking affordable, accessible health care, especially during evening hours or on weekends, clinics play a key role in the health care system. These clinics can help keep people out of overcrowded emergency rooms – 10 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 5 to 10 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,” EMMC is able to offer another option for patients to receive care for basic medical needs,” says Deborah Carey Johnson, RN, president and CEO of EMMC. “The clinic will not replace Emergency or Walk-In care, but for many busy residents we hope it will offer an alternative when a visit to their primary care provider isn’t convenient. And for those who may not have a medical home, it will mean affordable, accessible basic care that is backed up by the same high standards for quality care and service that people expect from EMMC.”
“We are constantly looking for ways to add value for our customers and, with this clinic, we hope to provide Bangor customers with affordable, accessible and convenient health care,” said Bruce Shepard, Walmart’s director of health business development. “And because EMMC is a well-known and respected health care provider in the community, our customers will benefit from the convenience of prompt, professional care from an organization that they know and trust.”
In addition to enhancing the ‘one-stop shopping’ experience for customers, The Clinic at Walmart offers prompt access to affordably priced 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 37 in-store clinics in Walmart stores across 12 states. For further information about “The Clinic at Walmart”, please visit www.walmart.com/clinics.
* Survey results based on an exit survey of 14, 479 patients following visits
to a clinic in Walmart between January 2006 and November 2006. Surveys were
conducted by the clinic operators.