Walgreens Will Soon Open Primary Care Doctors Offices in Some Stores

Walgreens has announced it will open primary care doctors' offices in some of its stores in Houston through a partnership with VillageMD, reports CNBC . VillageMD will run primary care clinics in five Walgreens stores, working with social workers, nurses, and store pharmacists. The offices will be within the stores, but they will have a separate storefront and a door connecting the two spaces. Unlike existing Walgreens walk-in clinics, visitors to the doctors' offices can go for annual physicals and any other ailment they would normally see their physician for. Walgreens Chief Medical Officer Patrick Carroll said the offices will include six to eight exam rooms and a waiting area, with the first offices scheduled to open by the end of the year. "What the Village Medical at Walgreens is going to offer is really high-quality primary care that can both improve quality and reduce costs at very convenient locations with a huge benefit quite honestly of that pharmacy support to work on adherence to prescription drugs," Carroll stated.