Baptist Health and Walgreens Announce Collaboration to Enhance Patient Care Across Northeast Florida Community

PRESS RELEASE

DEERFIELD, Ill. and JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Nov. 16, 2016 -- Baptist Health and Walgreens today announced a collaboration focused on improving and coordinating healthcare to create greater convenience and value for residents of northeast Florida.

As part of the agreement, in early January 2017, Baptist’s retail pharmacy operations will open under Walgreens ownership at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, while the pharmacies at the health system’s six other locations are planned to close, with continuity provided through access to any of the approximately 50 Walgreens pharmacies across the Jacksonville area. Baptist Health’s inpatient pharmacies and infusion therapy pharmacy will remain owned and operated by Baptist.

“This is a strategic relationship between the most comprehensive health care system in the region and a long-standing, trusted provider of pharmacy services throughout the community,” said Hugh Greene, Baptist Health president and CEO. “Together with Walgreens, we are eager to provide value while improving the overall health of the communities of northeast Florida.”

In addition, Baptist Health will own the clinical practice and operations management of retail health clinics within three Walgreens stores in Jacksonville and northeast Florida. These existing Walgreens Healthcare Clinics are expected to transition to Baptist in May 2017, at which time the clinics will become an extension of Baptist Health. Once opened under Baptist operation, the clinics will operate under the name of Baptist Health Clinic at Walgreens. Walgreens will continue to manage the existing Healthcare Clinics at these locations until that time.

The retail clinics will complement Baptist’s extensive primary care network and urgent care partnership with CareSpot. Baptist Health Clinic at Walgreens will give consumers improved access to the compassionate, affordable, high-quality care provided by Baptist with extended walk-in hours, convenient online scheduling and the option to access a variety of health care services without an appointment.

Greene added, “Our clinical agreement with Walgreens is part of our overall drive to meet rising consumer expectations with easy access to high quality, convenient care.”

Baptist Health and Walgreens also plan to use digital tools and incentives to help people manage their health. The Walgreens mobile app, for example, offers a variety of tools and programs including Balance® Rewards, a customer loyalty program that allows customers to earn points for health-related activities such as walking or running, logging weight, checking blood pressure and receiving vaccinations.

In addition, as the two organizations share a commitment to the greater Jacksonville community, Walgreens and Baptist will be planning several community initiatives in the near future.

“Collaboration is key in today’s healthcare environment, to help meet the changing needs of consumers, providers and the communities we serve,” said Amy Bixler, Walgreens regional healthcare director. “We’re pleased to work with Baptist Health to enhance care coordination across both pharmacy and retail clinic services, and look forward to bringing Walgreens pharmacists even closer to Baptist patients to further improve care delivery and outcomes.”