Walmart To Launch Clinical Research Sites In Shuttered Health Clinics

Walmart will roll out clinical research sites this spring in a limited number of stores and former shuttered outpatient health center sites.

The retail giant, which shuttered more than 50 retail health clinics almost two years ago and sold most of them, said it’s launching a new business to bring clinical research opportunities to its markets that include rural areas that don’t generally have access to the latest clinical trials.

“As healthcare evolves, it is becoming clear that meaningful progress happens when care starts closer to home,” said Walmart Chief Medical Officer Dr. Emily Aaronson. “The future of health will not be built only in large academic medical centers. It will also be shaped in neighborhoods, towns and rural communities, in places people already trust and rely on everyday.”

In a partnership between Walmart Healthcare Research Institute and an independent clinical research firm known as Care Access, new research sites will open in three former Walmart Health locations and one rural Walmart store, the company said Thursday. A Walmart spokeswoman said the specific stores and former health clinic locations haven’t been finalized yet.

“By reimagining familiar spaces as places for research engagement, we think it will reduce one of the most common barriers to participation,” Aaronson said. “We have seen success with mobile community health screening events, opening up more ways for our neighbors to participate in innovative research. Consistent, local opportunities for people to learn about and participate in research studies will give them access to new potential future treatments, and the care that comes along with being in a study.”

The sites will host “on-site, Care Access clinical teams who offer health screenings, share information about research opportunities, and help individuals explore participation in studies without traveling far from home,” Aaronson added.

Walmart’s foray into clinical research comes amid a push across the country to improve drug research and patient health outcomes by enrolling more underrepresented Americans into U.S. clinical trials.

In recent years, more hospital systems have expanded clinical trials, and others, including retail pharmacies like Walgreens, have begun conducting research. The sites conducting the research are typically paid via contracts with drug companies or government research grants and other sources. Walmart wouldn’t comment on potential future revenues from the research sites.

Those in need of clinical trial sites are also looking for more diverse populations for their research. Increasingly, new drugs are derived from biotechnology, and therapies are more targeted in the populations they treat.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022 acknowledged that racial and ethnic minorities are “frequently underrepresented in biomedical research,” the agency said. It outlined the government’s steps to improve diversity in clinical trials given an estimated 1 in 5 drugs have varied responses in ethnic groups yet most clinical trial participants are white, FDA officials said at the time.

In Walmart’s case, the retailer sees the future of healthcare and access as starting closer to home.”

“This same community-centered mindset guides Walmart’s broader approach to health,” she added. “People want support that fits into their routines and respects their time. When care feels easier to navigate and closer to home, it becomes more approachable and more human.”