Walgreens enters primary care with expansion

Walgreens will squeeze primary care clinics into as many as 700 of its U.S. stores over the next few years in a major expansion of the care it offers customers.

The drugstore chain said that it will partner with VillageMD to set up doctor-led clinics that also use nurses, social workers and therapists to provide regular treatment for patients.

The retailer will redesign stores that get the clinics, narrow their shelves and pull products like tobacco and other grocery items to make room.

Drugstores like Walgreens and rival CVS Health Corp. typically tuck small clinics in the back of their stores to dole out flu shots or treat minor ailments like sinus infections or poison ivy. But Walgreens is closing nearly 40% of those.