In March 2023, Walmart announced plans to expand its health centers by opening 28 more locations in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and Kansas City. However, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has now decided to close all 51 health centers in five states due to the challenges of finding a sustainable business model for these offerings. The retail giant launched its health centers five years ago with the goal of helping people save money on their health care needs. However, Walmart has realized that the reimbursement environment and operating costs have made it difficult to achieve profitability.
The closure of Walmart’s health centers comes as a result of the unsustainable nature of the care business for the company at this time. Despite this decision, Walmart will continue to operate almost 4,600 pharmacies and more than 3,000 vision centers across the United States. The company has not yet announced specific dates for when the health centers will close but has stated that employees who worked at these locations are eligible to transfer to any other Walmart or Sam’s Club location.