Walgreens and VillageMD will open 40 new Village Medical at Walgreens primary care clinics by the end of summer 2021, the companies said Dec. 2.
The clinics will be located in Houston, El Paso and Austin, Texas, as well as Phoenix and Orlando, Fla. The clinics in Phoenix will open starting Dec. 14.
Walgreens said it plans to open 500 to 700 VillageMD clinics in more than 30 U.S. markets in the next five years. The clinics integrate pharmacists as members of VillageMD's physician-led team to provide patients with a full suite of primary care and pharmacy services. Many will be located in medically underserved areas.
"By combining the expertise of both the physician and pharmacist, patients benefit from improved health outcomes and lowered cost of care. With Village Medical board-certified physicians facilitating regular and direct communication between patients and Walgreens pharmacists, the model helps Village Medical at Walgreens patients take the right medications and get the right doses at the right times," Walgreens said in a news release.
Walgreens opened five VillageMD clinics in Houston last year and the company said it has received overwhelmingly positive feedback. In July, Walgreens invested $1 billion in VillageMD and now has 30 percent ownership of the company.
Read the full news release here.