Walmart Wants To Be Nation's Biggest Primary Care Provider (Kaiser Health News)

Last month, Walmart released an information request seeking partners to help the company corner the market on in-store medical clinics. Specifically, the request said that the company “intends to build a national, integrated, low-cost primary care healthcare platform” — a statement that Dr. John Agwunobi, a senior vice president at the company, later called “overwritten and incorrect.” Walmart’s actual plans are still being defined, but, if the rest of the information request can be taken at face value, they’re on a tight timeline: the request was issued to an undisclosed number of “strategic partners” on October 21, and the final vendor selection is set to take place on January 13. Analysts say plans to expand the in-store clinics were likely devised as a way to boost store traffic.