• Walmart Health is expanding to 16 locations in Florida, bringing its clinics to metro areas like Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa 
• The new facilities will be conjoined to preexisting Walmart Supercenters, bringing a range of services including primary care, X-ray services, and dental health, among others 
• Beginning in January, eligible Medicare Advantage patients will be treated in value-based care arrangements in partnership with UnitedHealth Group

Walmart Health announced on Thursday this it will open 16 new health centers by the end of next year, spanning the metro areas of Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa.

The new facilities, which are planned to be conjoined to preexisting Walmart Supercenters, will provide a range of healthcare services including primary care, labs, X-ray and EKG, behavioral health, dental, hearing, select specialty services, and community health.

“As the population in Florida continues to grow at more than double the rate of the rest of the United States, so does the need to increase access to quality health care,” said Dr. David Carmouche, senior vice president, of Omnichannel Care Offerings at Walmart. “With these 16 new Walmart Health centers across the state, even more Floridians will have easy access to a wide range of high-quality health services at convenient hours and easy-to-understand prices.”

Beginning in January, eligible Medicare Advantage patients at some of the Florida and Georgia locations will be treated in value-based care arrangements developed in partnership with UnitedHealth Group.

Last month, Walmart announced a corporate partnership with UnitedHealth Group. The agreement covers a 10-year collaboration beginning in 2023 to provide preventive care to senior citizens and virtual healthcare services for all age groups.

Walmart’s collaboration with UnitedHealth will focus on prevalent conditions among the elderly, such as heart disease and diabetes.

When it begins in January, the cooperation will first provide elder healthcare at 15 Walmart Health facilities in Florida and Georgia. An emphasis will be placed on value-based healthcare, which is a concept under which hospitals and doctors’ offices get paid for the services they offer through various Medicare Advantage plans.

Optum, a UnitedHealth Group business, will help enable Walmart Health clinicians through analytics and decision support tools to deliver comprehensive value-based care that can help drive positive health outcomes for seniors and Medicare beneficiaries.

“UnitedHealth Group and Walmart share a deep commitment to high-quality and affordable primary care-led services that address all of a patient’s health needs in ways that are convenient for them and improve health outcomes,” said Andrew Witty, chief executive officer for UnitedHealth Group.

Coinciding with location expansion, Walmart Health is establishing a Healthcare Research Institute.

The research initiative, according to the company, aims to expand community access to patient services, which may lead to safer, higher-quality, and more egalitarian healthcare principles.

The Research Institute will focus on interventions and medications which can make a difference in underrepresented communities, particularly the inclusion of members from such communities in studies on chronic conditions and innovative treatments.

According to the company, it is collaborating with a variety of study partners, including clinical research organizations, pharmaceutical firms, and prominent university medical institutes. The Research Center says that in its initial research, it obtained a referral rate three times greater than the industry norm.

Walmart’s move comes as the FDA and the Biden administration aim to improve drug development and patient health outcomes by enrolling more Americans from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in clinical trials.