Walmart is moving past its experimental phase in healthcare and is plotting a massive expansion into Florida as the retail giant looks to take on the $3.6 trillion industry
The Walmart Health team in Loganville, Georgia. Walmart
Walmart in 2019 started a massive push into healthcare, as the giant US retailer vies for a bigger slice of the $3.6 trillion US healthcare industry.
The company set up Walmart Health centers in Georgia, offering services like primary care, counseling, and dentistry.
The man leading the push, Sean Slovenski, who served as Walmart's president of health and wellness for the past two years, left the role in August.
Walmart's still planning expanding that out nationally, starting with a big push into Florida.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
It's been nearly a year since Walmart went public with its efforts to push deeper into healthcare.
In September 2019 the company started building out Walmart Health clinics, opening "prototype" health centers in northern Georgia. At the time the company shared ambitious plans that could quickly make Walmart into the largest provider of basic healthcare in the region.
To pull off that plan, Walmart needed to open clinics in a growing number of stores, right as the pandemic hit the US and states locked down.
The effort was led by Sean Slovenski, Walmart's former president of health and wellness. He left Walmart in August after two years with the company.
"We will miss Sean, but we are excited to continue building and expanding on what he created at Walmart and to provide many more customers with affordable, accessible, essential health care options," Walmart US CEO and president John Furner said in a memo to Walmart employees on August 4.
Furner said that the company would share more on a new leader for the health and wellness team in the next few weeks.
Business Insider spoke to Slovenski in July, prior to his departure. He shared additional details about the direction Walmart Health is heading, and what it was like leading the venture through the early months of the pandemic.
Opening new health centers in the middle of a pandemic
At first, the idea of opening up new centers while everyone was staying at home was daunting.
"I was thinking at the time: We're opening all these physical locations and they may never reopen, What did we just do?" Slovenski said in the July interview.
When the pandemic hit the US, Walmart's in-person office visits went down, while online visits went up. Now that states are reopening, Walmart Health centers are seeing as many or more patients per day as they were before the coronavirus outbreak, he said.
Since September, Walmart has gone on to open more clinics in Georgia and one in Springdale, Arkansas. It plans to add additional locations in Illinois and in Florida, starting with the Jacksonville area.
Other retailers are bulking up in healthcare, too. CVS is opening 1,500 HealthHub clinics in its stores, for example. Walmart's size—it's the biggest US retailer by sales—and its experience driving down prices, made it a competitor to watch from the start, even when the health effort was just a few experimental stores in Georgia.
Slovenski said the expansion into Florida signals the end of the prototyping phase.
"We're full bore ahead," Slovenski said in July.
"We're not giving specific numbers yet, but it will be hard to be in the state of Florida and not notice us wherever you are," he added.
Read more: Walmart's ambitions are becoming clearer as it pushes into the $3.6 trillion US healthcare industry. Its plans make the retailer a 'sleeping giant to watch.'
Walmart in 2019 started a massive push into healthcare, as the giant US retailer vies for a bigger slice of the $3.6 trillion US healthcare industry.
The company set up Walmart Health centers in Georgia, offering services like primary care, counseling, and dentistry.
The man leading the push, Sean Slovenski, who served as Walmart's president of health and wellness for the past two years, left the role in August.
Walmart's still planning expanding that out nationally, starting with a big push into Florida.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
It's been nearly a year since Walmart went public with its efforts to push deeper into healthcare.
In September 2019 the company started building out Walmart Health clinics, opening "prototype" health centers in northern Georgia. At the time the company shared ambitious plans that could quickly make Walmart into the largest provider of basic healthcare in the region.
To pull off that plan, Walmart needed to open clinics in a growing number of stores, right as the pandemic hit the US and states locked down.
The effort was led by Sean Slovenski, Walmart's former president of health and wellness. He left Walmart in August after two years with the company.
"We will miss Sean, but we are excited to continue building and expanding on what he created at Walmart and to provide many more customers with affordable, accessible, essential health care options," Walmart US CEO and president John Furner said in a memo to Walmart employees on August 4.
Furner said that the company would share more on a new leader for the health and wellness team in the next few weeks.
Business Insider spoke to Slovenski in July, prior to his departure. He shared additional details about the direction Walmart Health is heading, and what it was like leading the venture through the early months of the pandemic.
Opening new health centers in the middle of a pandemic
At first, the idea of opening up new centers while everyone was staying at home was daunting.
"I was thinking at the time: We're opening all these physical locations and they may never reopen, What did we just do?" Slovenski said in the July interview.
When the pandemic hit the US, Walmart's in-person office visits went down, while online visits went up. Now that states are reopening, Walmart Health centers are seeing as many or more patients per day as they were before the coronavirus outbreak, he said.
Since September, Walmart has gone on to open more clinics in Georgia and one in Springdale, Arkansas. It plans to add additional locations in Illinois and in Florida, starting with the Jacksonville area.
Other retailers are bulking up in healthcare, too. CVS is opening 1,500 HealthHub clinics in its stores, for example. Walmart's size—it's the biggest US retailer by sales—and its experience driving down prices, made it a competitor to watch from the start, even when the health effort was just a few experimental stores in Georgia.
Slovenski said the expansion into Florida signals the end of the prototyping phase.
"We're full bore ahead," Slovenski said in July.
"We're not giving specific numbers yet, but it will be hard to be in the state of Florida and not notice us wherever you are," he added.
Read more: Walmart's ambitions are becoming clearer as it pushes into the $3.6 trillion US healthcare industry. Its plans make the retailer a 'sleeping giant to watch.'
A medical professional evaluates a patient at a Walmart Health center in Elm Springs, Arkansas. Walmart
Hiring healthcare workers became easier
The coronavirus pandemic created massive challenges for every part of the healthcare industry. Healthcare workers faced layoffs, furloughs, and reassignments, even as hospitals were overwhelmed by patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The industry's challenges made hiring easier for Walmart Health, Slovenski said, helping Walmart grow quickly in states like Florida.
"Walmart can build lots of things really fast. That's not the problem," Slovenski said in July. "The problem is staffing and staffing with the right people. Because that has gotten so much easier, it's actually allowed us to accelerate our plans."
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