VillageMD, which is majority owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, completed its acquisition of Summit Health-CityMD Jan. 3, adding more than 2,800 providers to its ranks.
News of the deal's completion comes roughly two months after it was announced. On Nov. 7, VillageMD said it entered a definitive agreement to acquire Summit Health-CityMD for $8.9 billion with investments from Walgreens Boots Alliance and Evernorth, the health services portfolio of Cigna.
VillageMD, established in 2013, operates standalone Village Medical practices, full-size Village Medical practices alongside Walgreens pharmacies, and primary care in the home and virtually.
The combination of Summit Health-CityMD and VillageMD creates one of the largest independent provider groups in the country, according to the companies' news release. With the buy, VillageMD more than doubles its locations from more than 250 to more than 680 in 26 markets and grows its ranks by more than 2,800 providers. VillageMD declined to share the precise number of providers it now employs, but did say it employs more than 20,000 people.
The addition also strengthens VillageMD's footprint in five states. Summit Health and CityMD have locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Central Oregon.
VillageMD is conducting a national search for a president of the company, who will report directly to Tim Barry, CEO and chair. Jeff Le Benger, MD, current chair and former CEO of Summit, will act as interim president.
Walgreens has previously stated that the acquisition will help its U.S. healthcare segment reach profitability sooner than previously anticipated, Bloomberg reported.
Walgreens upped its stake in VillageMD in fall 2021 when it invested $5.2 billion earmarked for at least 600 more Village Medical at Walgreens primary care practices in more than 30 markets by 2025 and 1,000 by 2027, with more than half of those practices in medically underserved communities. The expanded partnership followed the 2019 pilot Walgreens and VillageMD tested in the Houston area with five co-located practices in the Houston area.
Summit Health-CityMD was formed in summer 2019 when Summit Health, a physician-governed multispecialty medical group serving patients in the New York-New Jersey metro area with roots dating back to 1919, and CityMD, a nine-year-old urgent care provider in the New York metro area that started as one Manhattan practice, merged.