Christina HallDetroit Free Press
McLaren Health Care closed its Now+Clinics inside Walgreens stores in September.
The health system called the locations "convenient care clinics" and they offered a hybrid of in-person and virtual treatment and testing.
The nine McLaren clinics that closed were mostly in select stores in rural parts of the state. They were in areas that supported the McLaren hospital and primary care services and in "shoulder communities" where more access was needed, McLaren spokesman James Curtis told the Free Press for an article in 2023.
The first clinic opened in Fenton in 2020. There was one each in Bad Axe, Davison, Lansing, Midland, Mount Pleasant and Okemos and two in Petoskey. All nine clinics ended operations Sept. 2, McLaren spokesman David Jones wrote in an email Friday to the Free Press.
McLaren said in a statement Tuesday that many factors were considered in making the decision "including the rapidly changing landscape of the nationalandstatewide retail pharmacy industry,andthe availability of convenientandprimary care options in those communities, including the McLarenNow telehealth urgent care platform." The telehealth urgent care platform was introduced before the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones stated.
The McLaren statement indicated the Walgreens locations "served the diagnostic and treatment needs of many by creating convenient access to care."
The Now+Clinics were staffed on-site by registered nurses and had nurse practitioners, who were Michigan-based and appeared remotely on a screen. Curtis told the Free Press last year that the clinics had treated "in the thousands" and were the most highly rated service in the health care system. The clinics were a crucial resource for testing and antiviral treatment for COVID-19 cases.
McLaren sent notices to patients about the clinic closures.
A Free Press reporter who visited one of the clinics in Petoskey in 2023 found one of the clinic rooms with a large kiosk with oversized screen and a touch screen below with slots with devices. A scale and a stadiometer to check weight and height were on the side.
A nurse practitioner appeared remotely on the large kiosk screen and the registered nurse in the clinic used the devices, which included pulse oximeter, blood pressure, thermometer, stethoscope and otoscope to see into the nose and ears, with the nurse practitioner receiving the information and treating the patient.
Curtis previously told the Free Press the first clinic opened two years after the health system entered the partnership with Walgreens in 2018 to provide more access and convenience in a world where more people were choosing care outside primary care and where care can be difficult to access. He said last year that Walgreens had similar partnerships across the U.S., but the health system was the sole partner in Michigan.
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The clinics, formerly called McLaren CareNow, were used by people who couldn't get to their primary care physician or urgent care for minor illnesses and injuries, and for wellness physicals, health screenings, vaccinations, rapid PCR COVID-19/flu tests and lab testing for patients ages 2 and older. They accepted most major insurance plans and were open every day of the week except major holidays.
"The innovative virtual hybrid model proved its ability to connect patients with the care they needed during a period of transformational change in how health care is delivered," according to the McLaren statement last week, which added that employees at those clinics would be welcomed at other McLaren locations.
The health system did not respond to a question about how many employees were impacted by the clinic closures.
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A Walgreens spokesperson on Friday deferred questions to McLaren, saying in an email that the health care system solely owned and operated the clinics.
Walgreens announced in June that it was finalizing a "significant multiyear footprint optimization program to close certain underperforming U.S. stores."
In a news release at that time, Tim Wentworth, chief executive officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. stated, in part: "We continue to face a difficult operating environment, including persistent pressures on theU.S.consumer and the impact of recent marketplace dynamics which have eroded pharmacy margins."
Walgreens has nearly 9,000 stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to its website. It lists 126 stores in Michigan.
In August, another big drugstore chain, Rite Aid, confirmed with the Free Press that it will close all of its 186 stores in Michigan by the end of September. Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 and was closing stores in Michigan and across the country.
In its notice to patients, McLaren stated the clinics supplemented "traditional provider-care facilities during a period of nationwide shortage, providing essential healthcare services to countless patients."
The notice to patients included websites for McLaren medical group providers at mclaren.org/primarycare and McLaren Now 24/7/365 virtual urgent care at mclaren.org/now. It also listed where to access health records at mclaren.org/main/medical-records.
In its statement, McLaren indicated patients could find their nearest care provider, check in to the ER online or connect with a provider on McLarenNow at mclaren.org/getcare. An email to a Free Press reporter about the clinic closure also included locations of walk-in clinics in northern Michigan.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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