Dollar General said Wednesday it ended a pilot program with DocGo on mobile health clinics.
Stopping the mobile clinics program was a mutual decision between Dollar General and DocGo made after "careful evaluation," a Dollar General spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The spokesperson did not provide additional details on why the companies ended the program.
Related: What Dollar General's mobile clinics say about rural healthcare in America
Dollar General partnered with DocGo, which provides mobile medical and transportation services, to launch mobile health clinics at three stores in Tennessee in early 2023. The clinics offered onsite services such as annual physicals, vaccinations, urgent care and lab tests. The mobile clinics complemented the retailer's DG Wellbeing health initiative that places more health and wellness products in stores.
A DocGo spokesperson said it worked with patients to transition them to other care resources.
"DocGo will use the actionable data, mobile clinic program structure and resources from this pilot to inform other programs, including its expanding mobile clinic and in-home healthcare partnerships with health plans," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Dollar General, which operates more than 20,000 stores across the U.S., is the latest retailer to pull back on its healthcare plans. Walmart Health announced in April it is shuttering all clinics and shutting down its virtual care platform. Walgreens-backed VillageMD, also a primary care provider, has closed roughly 150 clinics this year.
CVS is reportedly seeking private equity investors to fund the growth of Oak Street Health, the primary care provider it acquired a year ago.
Dollar General tapped into the healthcare space several years ago. In 2018, it launched the Better For You program to stock healthier food items in its stores, and in 2019, the company rolled out the DG Fresh initiative to reduce costs on frozen and refrigerated products.
