Second Walmart Health location opens in Tampa Bay area

BRANDON, Fla. - Walmart just opened its sixth Walmart Health location in Florida on Tuesday. The grocery store on Causeway Boulevard in Brandon is now the second Walmart Health location in the Bay Area.

"Walmart Health, in general, really bringing together the needs of the community," said center administrator Judy O'Hara. "So primary care, dentistry, hearing, optometry. These are some of the fundamentals of health care."

The only other Walmart Health clinic in Tampa Bay is in Wesley Chapel, but you may have seen similar types of clinics popping up recently, connected to pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens. Not to mention the on-going rise in urgent care clinics.  

It's a trend that got rolling around the year 2000, but it has exploded lately. According to Consumer Reports, there were about 6,400 convenient care clinics in 2014. By 2018, that number jumped to more than 810 with many hundreds more operating today. 

"So, this is really a great model in regard to accessibility, putting them in locations where patients need care, so they don't have to wait long hours at other offices," said Dr. Umara Saleem, a family medicine physician.  

Walmart Health clinics do take insurance, and they also post their prices for people paying cash. While they can't treat everything, clinics like these are a new easy option available in a familiar location. 

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"So, coming here for their health care needs is just the next step. So it's familiar," O’Hara said. 

The latest Walmart Health location is open seven days a week, and it offers telehealth options as well.