A recent survey of retail clinics in the nation set the number of such caregiving sites at nearly 1,000.
The listing, released by the healthcare list division of Verispan, Yardley, Pa., listed a total of 921 such clinics. The clinics typically are staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants and provide basic, non-emergency care for patients at retail locations, such as pharmacies, supermarkets or retail stores.
Verispan's survey is part of its database of pharmacy retail clinics and the allied healthcare practitioners affiliated with these facilities. The Verispan research found clinics operating in 36 states.
The survey found that Minute Clinics, operated in CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide, are the fastest-growing pharmacy retail clinic, with more than 390 locations.
The second largest retail health chain is Take Care Clinics, operated in 136 Walgreens stores nationwide. Walgreens last year purchased Take Care Health Systems, which operates the chains as a subsidiary of the Deerfield, Ill.-based pharmacy company.
Third in the ranking is The Little Clinic, which has 40 locations in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Ranking fourth is Redi Clinic, which has 33 locations in various Wal-Mart and H-E-B locations.
Rounding out the top 10 operators are Corner Care Clinic, 25 locations; Target Clinics, 24 locations; Checkups, 23; Aurora Quickcare, 22; Healthstop (SmartCare), 22; and Curaquick, 12.
Verispan, which began compiling the clinic locations in 2006, said that while the pharmacy/retail clinic industry has yet to fully establish itself, these clinics have shown tremendous potential in providing inexpensive and effective healthcare to consumers.