Walmart gets serious about health care clinics
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Retail clinic pioneer Sandra Ryan has accepted a position with Walmart to lead their Care Clinic business in a move that suggests the world's largest retailer is ready to make some major moves in the retail clinic space.
Ryan will assume the new role of VP Walmart Care Clinics, Health & Wellness Division. Walmart has been quietly piloting its Care Clinic model, with 17 clinic openings in 2014 across several markets, including Texas, Georgia and South Carolina.
Walmart's model goes beyond basic acute care and offers more services normally associated with a primary care provider, such as wellness and preventive care and management of chronic conditions. The fact that Walmart has tapped an executive of Ryan's stature may mean the mass retailer is ready to create some major disruption in the healthcare delivery marketplace.
Ryan was the former chief nurse practitioner officer for Take Care/Walgreens Healthcare Clinic and was part of Take Care's original leadership team.
"I am extremely excited for this opportunity and look forward to getting back into the retail clinic space," Ryan wrote in an email to colleagues.
Ryan most recently served as a chief clinical officer for CareCam Health Systems where she oversaw all clinical aspects of the company. Prior to joining CareCam, Ryan was one of six founding officers at Take Care Health Systems and was the first chief nurse practitioner officer in the convenient care industry. At Take Care Health Systems, Sandy led nearly 1,500 board-certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants who practice at over 400 Take Care Clinics at Walgreens drug stores in 35 markets in 19 states.
Ryan oversaw clinical and operational leadership for the business while working closely with Walgreens’ chief medical officer in such areas as clinical governance, research and quality initiatives. Ryan played an integral role in the development and implementation of integrated technology, quality assurance programs, and evidenced-based guidelines and led efforts on legislative issues that prevent access to care while promoting the role and visibility of the nurse practitioner.
Ryan served as chair of the Clinical Advisory Board of the Convenient Care Association, the industry’s trade organization, where she was instrumental in developing the CCA’s Quality and Safety Standards and implementing a third-party certification process for these standards. To address the educational needs of nurse practitioners in the convenient care industry, Ryan helped to orchestrate the first-ever Retail Clinician Education Congress, in partnership with the Drug Store News Group.
According to her biography on CareCam's site, Ryan has over 25 years of healthcare and leadership experience in various clinical, management and leadership settings. She is a decorated Air Force Officer and is a nationally certified nurse practitioner. Ryan’s experiences as an Air Force nurse corps officer include working as a clinician, charge nurse and director of ambulatory services in inpatient and outpatient settings.
The American College of Nurse Practitioners awarded Ryan the 2007 Nancy Sharp Cutting Edge Award, in recognition of her service to increase the visibility of Nurse Practitioners and to enhance the lives of patients. Ryan was recognized by the Convenient Care Industry and was the recipient of Retail Clinician Congress CARE Leadership Award 2008, was inducted into the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as a fellow in 2009 and is the first NP to be inducted as a Fellow of the College of Physicians Philadelphia, 2011, became a fellow to the American Academy of Nursing 2013, and recognized with the Loretta Ford Lifetime Achievement Award 2014.
Ryan earned a B.S.N. in Nursing from Niagara University, and an M.S.N. from Arizona State University.