VillageMD is going to open between 500 and 700 doctors’ offices inside of Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) stores.
The plan will have VillageMD opening the in-store doctors’ offices over the next five years. This will have the company opening stores in more than 30 U.S. markets. More than 50% of the offices will be in areas marked as short on health professionals or medically underserved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Village MD also notes that it will recruit over 3,600 primary care providers to staff these locations. Each of the locations will also range in size from roughly 3,330 square feet to 9,000 square feet, with many being the former.
VillageMD’s plans to open doctors’ offices in Walgreens stores come with a major investment from the pharmacy chain. WBA will invest $1 billion into the company over the next three years. The first part of this investment is $250 million being made today.
VillageMD points out that 80% of Walgreens investment will go toward funding the new doctors’ offices. The funding will also result in WBA owning a 30% stake in the company.
The decision to open as many as 700 VillageMD doctors’ offices in Walgreens locations follows a successful trial run starting last November. This saw five in-store doctors’ offices open in the Houston, Texas area. Patient satisfaction at these locations was high with a Net Promoter Scores over 90.
WBA stock was up close to 1% as of Wednesday afternoon.
As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
