Walgreens’ VillageMD to close all Illinois clinics

Walgreens' VillageMD is closing six Chicago clinic locations—five standalone and one co-located with a Walgreens store, per a Telehealth & Telecare Aware report.

The closures in Walgreens' home state are set to take place April 19. These closures follow on the heels of news last week that VillageMD exited the Florida market. 

A VillageMD spokesperson provided Drug Store News with a statement that said, "After careful consideration and analysis, we have made the decision to exit the Illinois market. We are committed to helping our teams during this transition and we are working diligently to care for our patients during this transition. This includes offering care to them during this transition and the resources they need to access care and their medical records. These resources are listed below. 

• High-quality care for our patients is always our top priority and we are working diligently to ensure this is a smooth transition for them. 
• Resources: 
• Patients can contact their insurance company for help in identifying an in-network doctor and also ask their provider where they will be practicing. For Medicare patients, they can visit www.medicare.gov/care-compare/ for help in identifying a doctor in your plan.  
• For transferring your medical records to another doctor, please visit https://www.villagemedical.com/medicalrecords and complete the request form.  
• To get a prescription refill before April 19, please call the practice or complete a refill request using the patient portal of Village Medical App. Patients can continue to use the pharmacy of their choice." 

[Read more: Walgreens closing all VillageMD primary care clinics in Florida]

A Walgreens spokesperson told Drug Store News, "Clinic consolidations and closures in select markets are part of Village Medical’s broader plans to realign operating costs with sales, optimize its footprint and increase density in its highest opportunity markets where it can best serve patients across the full care continuum and prove its best model of care. 

Walgreens Boots Alliance remains committed to the VillageMD model and has been encouraged by the progress being made to drive patient panel growth while accelerating profitability."