Walmart Admits Failure and Shuts Down All Health Centers

Walmart has been a staple in both the grocery and household items sector of retail for decades. In 2019, they tried to expand into the healthcare business, but they have now backed down.

Walmart recently announced it will close all of its Walmart Health clinics across the country, a quite staggering reversal of its plans to bring its low-priced reputation to the dentist and doctor's office, along with groceries and household items.

In 2019, Walmart opened its health care clinics inside choice Walmart stores, as well as a virtual care network.

Basically, there are a little over 50 Walmart Health centers still left, but in the next 15-45 days those will all be closed. Walmart will close 51 clinic locations across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas.

These plans, however, won’t affect the company’s 4,600 pharmacies and more than 3,000 vision centers, the company said in a release.

Instead of beating around the bush and not saying why, Walmart faced the issue head-on and divulged to the public its failure.

Walmart blamed its plans to shutter clinics on a broken business model. In the release, it described the move as "a difficult decision," but said it couldn’t operate a profitable business because of "the challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs."

This kind of goes to show you that even one of America's largest companies can't take on the health care system.

Walmart originally said they would be able to offer healthcare and virtual healthcare for a fraction of the price, but that apparently was not the best business model for the retail giant.

As a matter of fact, a couple of months ago, Walmart said it planned to double the size of its clinic footprint by opening up 22 new locations this year and more in 2025.

Don't worry, you can still go to Walmart and get mulch, pickles, Skittles and your eyes checked. But a doctor visit at the retail giant won't be in your near future.

Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. He plays the best new country music and interviews today's top stars, like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, + more!