…health care kept coming in second to other growth initiatives. In the 1990s, Walmart focused on building massive Supercenters to break into the grocery sector, which accounted for 56% of its $332 billion in U.S. sales in 2018, the most recent data available.
Rather than tucked in a corner like many CVS or other convenient stores, Walmart care centers have separate entrances visible from the parking lot. They’re run by doctors, not nurse practitioners with plenty of exam rooms to support a steady stream of patients. Paperwork is almost nonexistent because many appointments don’t involve insurance, and administrative functions such as scheduling and billing have been outsourced to a back-office specialist called Zotec. (Walmart does accepts insurance, but patients might be better off paying the nominal flat fee)
This newest store is the company’s second store to feature a healthcare facility. The first was in September when Walmart began offering services in Dallas, Ga.