Walmart is winding down its Walmart Health initiative, the company announced April 30—noting that all 51 of its healthcare clinics and virtual care services will close.

The retail giant has operated healthcare clinics since 2019. The clinics are located next to Walmart stores and offer primary care, dental, and behavioral health services along with other treatments. Walmart announced in March that it would open 22 new clinics in Texas and Missouri by the end of this year, Healthcare Brew previously reported.

“We understand this change affects lives—the patients who receive care, the associates and providers who deliver care, and the communities who supported us along the way,” according to the statement. “This is a difficult decision, and like others, the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs create a lack of profitability that make the care business unsustainable for us at this time.”

Keep reading here.—MA

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Walgreens is consolidating its specialty pharmacy services into a new business unit that will include an 18,000-square-foot gene and cell therapy innovation center in Pittsburgh, the company announced on April 25.

Under the rebranded Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy division—which Rick Gates, Walgreens SVP and chief pharmacy officer, says will generate $24 billion per year—Walgreens is expanding its offerings to include the innovation center as well as four central specialty pharmacies, roughly 300 community-based specialty pharmacies, and more than 1,500 specialty-trained pharmacists, according to the company.

“Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy is the largest independent provider that offers the industry’s most robust specialty capabilities not vertically aligned with a pharmacy benefit manager,” Gates said in a statement. “We have the flexibility to contract dynamically with any payer. We can partner directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers to facilitate products to market, including limited distribution drugs, and coordinate closely with providers to ensure patients experience a smooth start to treatment.”

Keep reading here.—MA

Some hospitals and healthcare providers are turning to on-demand staffing solutions to address a national nursing shortage, as well as an increased demand for flexibility in nursing, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This week, on-demand workforce tech company ShiftMed acquired CareerStaff Unlimited, a leading managed service provider (MSP) developed by Genesis HealthCare.

With ShiftMed, vetted healthcare providers and systems can post open shifts to the platform and credentialed nurses on the site can pick up those shifts using an app on their mobile device. ShiftMed provides nursing solutions for acute care, post-acute care, and in-home settings. The CareerStaff Unlimited tool simplifies staffing for healthcare providers by offering access to a network of more than 1,000 staffing companies using a single-point solution.

Keep reading at HR Brew.—AD

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