Walgreens enters work-site clinic market

The pharmacy chain plans to launch a health and wellness division that will include new retail and clinic acquisitions.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. April 28, 2008.

Thanks to two pending acquisitions, Walgreen Co. is poising itself to become a strong force in the world of work-site health clinics.

Walgreens announced in March it is purchasing Chadds Ford, Pa-based I-trax Inc., and Cleveland-based Whole Health Management, which have a combined total of 369 of the estimated 7,600 work-site clinics across the country.

The drugstore chain said the acquisitions are part of its strategic plan to launch a health and wellness division that will also include Take Care Health Clinics, the store-based retail clinics located inside Walgreens stores. The company plans to connect its work-site clinics, store-based clinics and its pharmacy business into a single, integrated electronic system.

The work-site clinics, usually located at companies that are self-insured, offer services ranging from fitness centers to work-site pharmacies. In some cases, they offer primary care. The level of service is determined by each employer who contracts with the clinic operators.

According to Watson Wyatt, an Arlington, Va.-based consulting firm, nearly one-third of companies have or plan to have work-site clinics in 2009, up from 27% in 2006.

Because the Walgreens deal has not yet closed, the companies said they are not able to discuss expansion plans. But CHD Meridian Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Hotz said his company had its own expansion plans in the works before Walgreens entered the picture. CHD Meridian is the I-trax subsidiary that operates work-site clinics. Another subsidiary, ProFitness Solutions, provides wellness services.