Walgreens and Piedmont Healthcare announced that Piedmont Healthcare will operate and provide all clinical services at 27 retail health clinics located within Walgreens stores across the Atlanta area.

The clinics are planned to transition to Piedmont this August, at which time the clinics will become an extension of Piedmont Healthcare and called Piedmont QuickCare at Walgreens. Walgreens will continue to manage these Healthcare Clinic locations until that time. 

“Our goal is simple. To provide same-day access to high quality care close to home. This new retail offering complements our virtual care (Piedmont On-Call), urgent care, and same day primary care offerings to give consumers more choice for non-emergency services,” said Kevin Brown, Piedmont Healthcare CEO. “Piedmont QuickCare at Walgreens will serve as another convenient option for our patients.”

As part of the agreement, Walgreens and Piedmont will form a collaborative council to share best practices and experiences that aim to improve patient care, quality and satisfaction while reducing health care costs.

“As we continue to look for ways to provide more convenient access and enhanced care coordination for our patients, forming collaborative relationships with established community healthcare providers, like Piedmont, is key,” said Pat Carroll, MD, chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics.  “We look forward to working with Piedmont as it shares our commitment to delivering exceptional and personalized patient care.”

This new clinic agreement builds on an existing relationship between Walgreens and Piedmont. Since June 2009, Walgreens has operated a pharmacy at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, the flagship location of the Piedmont system, giving patients easy and convenient access to prescription and over the counter medicines. In addition, both organizations are committed to exploring new ways of working together to enhance accessible and affordable patient care in the communities they serve.