MinuteClinic debuts Rhode Island's first retail medical clinics

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic of CVS Health, opened its first location in Rhode Island on Wednesday inside the CVS/pharmacy store in Woonsocket. Two more walk-in clinics will begin seeing patients Thursday in CVS/pharmacy locations in Cranston and Wakefield.



The Rhode Island clinics are part of MinuteClinic’s plan to add 150 clinics nationwide in 2014. With the openings this week, there will be 87 MinuteClinic locations in New England inside select CVS/pharmacy stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. In total, MinuteClinic currently operates more than 940 locations in 30 states.



“MinuteClinic is the latest innovation CVS Health is bringing to its home state to help expand access to high quality care and lower costs,” said Andrew Sussman, president, MinuteClinic and SVP/associate chief medical officer, CVS Health. “As we have experienced elsewhere in New England and across the United States, MinuteClinic can support the primary care medical model by offering services at convenient locations near where patients live and work and at times when traditional options may not be available.”



The Rhode Island clinics are included in a clinical collaboration between MinuteClinic and Lifespan to enhance continuity of care with the primary care community. Lifespan is Rhode Island’s largest health system with a network of more than 1,800 affiliated physicians throughout the state. Both organizations will integrate their electronic medical records to further promote exchange of clinical information, with patients’ permission.



MinuteClinic also will be collaborating with the Rhode Island Free Clinic, providing care for free to its patients, as part of its overall commitment to increasing access to affordable health care in Rhode Island. CVS Health already provides free medications for these patients at several CVS/pharmacy locations in the state.



“The support of MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and physician assistants in providing care to our patients, will be a great complement to the quality care provided at Rhode Island Free Clinic,” said Marie Ghazal, CEO, Rhode Island Free Clinic. “Overall, MinuteClinic will also increase access to care for uninsured Rhode Islanders, promote more patients to find a primary care physician and help to reduce costs to the health care system in our state.”