Clinical agreement also aimed at helping to improve care coordination and access across 27 retail clinic locations

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 healthcare 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.

Piedmont QuickCare at Walgreens will continue to operate seven days a week in most locations, giving patients the option to access a variety of health care services without an appointment. In addition, Piedmont QuickCare at Walgreens will complement Piedmont Healthcare’s existing primary care and urgent care network. For more information about Piedmont QuickCare at Walgreens, visit piedmont.org/now.

About Walgreens

Walgreens (www.walgreens.com), one of the nation’s largest drugstore chains, is included in the Retail Pharmacy USA Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA), the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. More than 10 million customers interact with Walgreens each day in communities across America, using the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice. Walgreens operates 8,175 drugstores with a presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Walgreens omnichannel business includes Walgreens.com and VisionDirect.com. Approximately 400 Walgreens stores offer Healthcare Clinic or other provider retail clinic services.

About Piedmont Healthcare

A private, not-for-profit organization serving nearly 2 million patients across Georgia, Piedmont is transforming healthcare, creating a destination for the best clinicians and a one-of-a-kind experience that always puts patients first. Today, more than 110 years since it was founded, Piedmont is known as a leading health system in cancer care, treatment of heart disease and organ transplantation with 7 hospitals, 19 urgent care centers, 94 physician practice locations and 1615 Piedmont Clinic members. Our 16,500 employees dedicate themselves to making a positive difference in every life we touch and our commitment doesn’t stop there. In FY 2016, Piedmont provided more than $142 million in uncompensated care and invested an additional $9.6 million in community benefit programming, in an effort to better the health and well-being of the people in the communities we serve. For more information about how Piedmont can help you achieve better health, visit piedmont.org.