CVS Health is working on adding Oak Street Health clinics to two Jacksonville pharmacies in Arlington and Wesconnett.
The city is reviewing permit applications for $960,000 renovations to both locations at 7431 Atlantic Blvd. at northwest Atlantic Boulevard and Arlington Road North in Arlington and at 5407 Blanding Blvd. at southeast Blanding Boulevard and 103rd Street in Wesconnett in West Jacksonville.
In May 2023, CVS Health completed its acquisition of Chicago-based Oak Street Health.
Oak Street Health is now a part of Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health and will remain a multipayer health care provider.
Oak Street Health says it specializes in doctor-staff clinics that provide primary care for older adults.
Plans call for interior and exterior alterations to the pharmacies to bring in “Oak St. Health.”
Dynamic Engineering of Delray Beach is the civil engineer. Massa Multimedia Architecture PC in Neptune, New Jersey, is the architect.
The Atlantic Boulevard CVS is 11,257 square feet. Oak Street Health will use 6,795 square feet of space, leaving 4,462 square feet for the CVS Pharmacy. Plans show 12 exam rooms, lab spaces and other medical uses.
While the square footage numbers differ in the documents, one set shows the Blanding Boulevard CVS at 13,111 square feet. Oak Street Health plans to use 9,535 square feet of space with 3,576 for the CVS pharmacy. That location has 16 exam rooms.
Oak Street Health says it provides “comprehensive care, including primary care doctors and nurses, social workers, behavioral health specialists, and even someone to help you with Medicare questions.”
It also offers community events and activities to support overall health and well-being.
“Oak Street Health accepts most major insurances, including Medicare beneficiaries with Part B and disability regardless of age, supplements and traditional Medicare.”
CVS Health announced May 2, 2023, that it completed its acquisition of Oak Street Health.
It said the acquisition “will broaden CVS Health’s value-based primary care platform and significantly benefit patients’ long-term health by improving outcomes and reducing costs – particularly for those in underserved communities.”
Forbes.com reported Feb. 8, 2024, that CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch said the health care company expects to open 50 to 60 Oak Street Health clinics for seniors next year.
The news site said CVS acquired Oak Street in 2023 for $10.6 billion in cash. Oak Street has more than 200 medical centers across 25 states and CVS plans to open dozens more.
CVS said that by 2026, Oak Street Health will have more than 300 centers. Oak Street employs about 900 primary care providers.
Forbes.com said some of the new clinics will be integrated with CVS pharmacies while others are stand-alone centers.
The news site said CVS’ plans for Oak Street are in contrast to Walgreens retail clinic expansion.
Walgreens has been an investor and partner with VillageMD, a Chicago-based startup that has received funding from Walgreens to open hundreds of doctor-staffed clinics attached to drugstores, the site said.
In October, Walgreens, which owns about half of VillageMD, announced plans to close 60 underperforming VillageMD locations and exit certain locations to focus on “increased density” in the company’s highest opportunity markets.
Those closings included the Jacksonville area.
Village Medical announced in December it would close its 10 Walgreens clinics in the Jacksonville area Jan. 5, about two years after opening the first of them.
CVS also owns Aetna, the nation’s third-largest health insurance company, with more than 25 million total health plan members including more than 4 million covered by Medicare plans for seniors who are a key patient population for Oak Street centers.
CVS for years has operated in-store clinics staffed by nurse practitioners and has expanded the number of health care services and products within its retail locations by converting certain stores into HealthHUBs. It continues its push deeper into health care, Forbes.com reported.
CVS.com shows at least 50 CVS stores in Northeast Florida, with nine HealthHUBS, which are expanded MinuteClinic health services with pharmacy support and wellness products.