Walgreens Partners with Providence Health

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Deerfield, Ill.) has announced that it will open 25 new retail clinics throughout Oregon and Washington that will be owned and operated by hospital-operator Providence Health & Services (Seattle). Three clinics are expected to open in Portland and another three in Seattle in early 2016 and are expected to be branded as “Providence Express Care at Walgreens.”

In the past, the company has staffed its clinics with employees and nurse practitioners who work directly for the chain. The decision to outsource the clinics’ management opens the door for the retailer to expand the clinics more quickly at a reduced cost, reports Forbes.

The move, however, has been questioned by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, reports The Chicago Tribune, because Providence operates more than 30 hospitals affiliated with the Catholic faith.