Walmart Opens 6 Primary Care Clinics in South Carolina and Texas

Walmart has opened six primary care locations in South Carolina and Texas as rural communities have been struggling to get the health care despite the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The retailer is also looking forward to open six more primary care centers by the end of the year. The US is facing a healthcare-access crisis even after seven million Americans have new insurance cards.

The US Health Resources and Services Administration has revealed that nearly 20% of Americans live in areas without adequate access to primary care doctors. Rural areas are suffering the most where residents are very vulnerable to suffer from diabetes, cancer and heart problems. Only 65 primary care doctors per 100,000 rural Americans are available in those areas.

The move by the nation's largest retailer to open primary care locations can be a great support for the government's goal to resolve the US healthcare-access crisis.

There are 37 states having retail, or corporate, clinics run by the likes of CVS or Walgreens. However, the problem with those centers is the fact that only 12% of them are located in rural areas.

But Walmart has a vast rural network of stores in rural areas to enable patients get the health care they need. "We have been in health and wellness for many many years, from our pharmacies to urgent care. We have a strong history in innovating in the health and wellness industry", said Walmart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth Barnett.

Barnett added that rural residents will get access to the treatments for common, often chronic, ailmentsunlike the traditional retail clinics that provide treatments only for a limited list of ailmentslike the Flu.