Advocate Health Care to Operate Walgreens Healthcare Clinics in Chicagoland Area

PRESS RELEASE

DEERFIELD, Ill. & CHICAGO, January 11, 2016 - Walgreens and Advocate Health Care today announced Advocate will own and operate the 56 Healthcare Clinics at Walgreens stores across the greater Chicagoland area. The retail clinics will function as part of Advocate and will strengthen care coordination for patients, while also furthering overall convenience and access. The clinics, to be branded as Advocate Clinic at Walgreens, will open under Advocate in May 2016.

“Advocate Clinic at Walgreens expands Advocate's care delivery locations to provide more options for patients and meet the needs of consumers in an evolving health care environment,” said Lee Sacks, M.D., Advocate’s chief medical officer and executive vice president. “With Walgreens’ unmatched footprint coupled with our leading clinical expertise and commitment to delivering high quality, affordable health care, more patients will have access to the best care when and where they need it.”

Advocate Clinic at Walgreens will provide consumers the ability to receive care from a well-known, trusted provider with the easy access and convenience of a retail clinic setting. The clinics also offer a high quality, affordable option for treating common illnesses and injuries and allow for more effective care coordination.. Advocate Clinic at Walgreens will continue to offer walk-ins and same-day appointment scheduling.

For Walgreens, the agreement aligns with a two-pronged growth strategy for its retail clinics, which includes investing in its core business and expanding services to build a strong and viable model for future growth, while also developing deeper, more innovative approaches with health systems.

“Advocate shares our commitment to delivering extraordinary, personalized patient care, and is a nationally recognized health system that, like Walgreens, has been serving Chicagoland communities for more than 100 years,” said Pat Carroll, M.D., chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics. “We believe this approach will help ensure a true continuum of care for patients and their providers. This is also an emphasis for our Walgreens-managed clinics, where we continue to make investments, such as a new EHR platform, to offer patient benefits through a variety of convenient care options.”

Today’s announcement furthers Walgreens and Advocate’s efforts to improve care delivery. Walgreens currently operates on-site pharmacies at three Advocate hospitals, with plans to expand to three additional Advocate Hospitals in the near future.

Advocate Clinic at Walgreens will be staffed with board-certified nurse practitioners employed by, trained by and supervised by Advocate Medical Group. Advocate’s intention is to attempt to hire its initial workforce from among the employees currently working at Walgreens clinic locations.

The 56 Healthcare Clinics that Advocate will operate are located in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.