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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is turning over the operation of 56 Healthcare Clinics at stores in the greater Chicagoland area to Advocate Health Care, the largest health system in Illinois.
The drug chain said Monday that Advocate will lease the space to operate the clinics in the Walgreens stores. Plans call for the clinics to be branded as Advocate Clinic at Walgreens and open under the new banner in May.
The 56 Healthcare Clinics that Advocate will operate are located in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties and will continue to offer walk-ins and same-day appointment scheduling.
Walgreens noted that the agreement reflects its efforts to invest in its core business and build a strong growth model for its retail clinics by expanding services and developing deeper, more innovative approaches with health systems.
“Advocate shares our commitment to delivering extraordinary, personalized patient care and is a nationally recognized health system that, like Walgreens, has been serving Chicagoland communities for more than 100 years,” Pat Carroll, chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics, said in a statement. “We believe this approach will help ensure a true continuum of care for patients and their providers. This is also an emphasis for our Walgreens-managed clinics, where we continue to make investments, such as a new EHR [electronic health record] platform, to offer patient benefits through a variety of convenient care options.”
Advocate Clinic at Walgreens will be staffed with board-certified nurse practitioners employed, trained and supervised by Advocate Medical Group, a unit of Advocate Health Care and Illinois’ largest medical group, with more than 1,300 providers at over 200 locations. Advocate said it aims to hire its initial workforce from among the employees currently working at Walgreens clinics.
The agreement builds on Walgreens and Advocate’s current relationship. The drug chain operates on-site pharmacies at three Advocate hospitals and said it plans to expand to three additional Advocate Hospitals in the near future.
“Advocate Clinic at Walgreens expands Advocate’s care delivery locations to provide more options for patients and meet the needs of consumers in an evolving health care environment,” stated Lee Sacks, Advocate’s chief medical officer and executive vice president. “With Walgreens’ unmatched footprint coupled with our leading clinical expertise and commitment to delivering high-quality, affordable health care, more patients will have access to the best care when and where they need it.”
Overall, Walgreens has approximately 400 Healthcare Clinic and provider practice locations nationwide.
