Advocate Health is shuttering 55 clinics inside Walgreens stores in Illinois and Wisconsin, effective Feb. 6.
Advocate owns and operates 47 in-store clinics in Illinois and eight in Wisconsin. An Advocate spokesperson said Wednesday the health system is working with Walgreens to navigate the transition and will try to find other roles for affected employees. Each clinic employs one or two medical office assistants and other clinicians who support virtual care services.
Related: Advocate Health wants more post-merger savings
The Advocate spokesperson said the system will focus on other ways to give patients access to care such as expanded virtual services.
Walgreens finalized a deal with Advocate in 2016 to lease store space for the clinics, part of a larger effort by the retail pharmacy chain to streamline operations. The Midwest's Advocate Aurora Health and the Southeast's Atrium Health merged in late 2022 to form Advocate, which is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In December, the health system pledged a $1 billion investment into Chicago's South Side, including plans to build a 52-bed hospital and increase access to primary and specialty care.
A Walgreens spokesperson said the company offers virtual care for patients in Illinois. Walgreens continues to have partnerships with dozens of health systems that operate more than 100 clinics in stores nationwide, including deals with Hartford, Connecticut-based Hartford HealthCare and Indianapolis-based Community Health Network.
The spokesperson did not say what Walgreens plans to do with the clinic space.
Walgreens made the first deal of this kind in 2015 with Renton, Washington-based Providence.
Walgreens is moving forward with a turnaround plan to stabilize cash flow amid a challenging pharmacy environment and weakened consumer retail demand. The company began a review of operations in early 2024 and is refocusing on its core pharmacy business. The company plans to close 1,200 stores over the next few years, including about 500 stores in 2025.
Reports surfaced in December about Walgreens potentially selling itself to private equity firm Sycamore Partners, though that plan is seeming less likely.
