Walmart Health Clinics to Return

Walmart Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) plans to reboot the idea of in-store medical clinics. In 2008, the company outlined a goal to have 400 walk-in health clinics inside its stores by 2010, but later reversed the plans, closing all but 17 of its 78 clinics, states an article in The New York Times.

While the former plan centered on a partnership with RediClinic, a privately held company, this time, the world’s largest retailer seeks to work with hospitals, according to The Times.

Last December RediClinic, citing the poor economy, shut down its 15 Walmart centers. Since then, Walmart has reopened two former RediClinics in Arkansas, in a partnership with the Northwest Health System. Today, Walmart operates 33 clinics, with 26 affiliated with a hospital.