• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 30, 2024

Remember when retailers told the world they could solve America’s healthcare woes, knitting primary-care visits together with their pharmacies? While Walgreens, CVS, Target, Amazon and Rite Aid were all part of the stampede, Walmart’s model was among the most credible. Five years after the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company started opening primary-care medical facilities in healthcare deserts, it is bailing out.

Citing profitability as the problem, Walmart announced it would close all 51 healthcare centers and Walmart Health Virtual Care, which was built to support patients outside those centers. The company opened the first location in 2019, before COVID, and drew plenty of praise as the pandemic highlighted healthcare disparities around the country.

“Through our experience managing Walmart Health centers and Walmart Health Virtual Care, we determined there is not a sustainable business model for us to continue,” the retailer says in its announcement.

And while Walmart says it does not have specific dates for the shutdown, recognizing that people will need to scramble for new coverage, Reuters reports the closures will come in 30 to 90 days.

While Walmart says it will take insights from the venture and use them to improve health and wellness services in its 4,600 pharmacies and 3,000 vision centers, it’s still a black eye for its strategic reputation. As recently as last year, it had said it planned to double the number of clinics it operated. And while it did not reveal the cost impact, it’s likely an expensive one, too.

Walmart isn’t alone in those health struggles. Walgreens, which had gone on an acquisition spree, scooping up medical practices, recently announced it would close 160 VillageMD centers. It posted a related $5.8 billion impairment charge. Walgreens still owns and operates hundreds of VillageMD locations and more than 400 operating under the Summit Health name.

Besides owning more than 1,100 Minute Clinics, CVS recently added the Chicago-based Oak Street Health, with 300 locations, and Signify Health, a national company with more than 10,000 clinicians.

Amazon owns One Medical, with more than 220 brick-and-mortar locations.

And Rite Aid, now in bankruptcy, had partnered with Homeward, a start-up aimed at underserved rural communities.