Walmart Health, a subsidiary of Walmart Inc. , has acquired the Phoenix-headquartered telehealth provider MeMD for an undisclosed sum.
What Happened:Founded in 2010 by Dr. John Shufeldt, MeMD’s platform enables medical and mental health visits to five million members nationwide via computer, phone and mobile devices. The acquisition will enable Walmart Health to expand its in-person primary care services with access a nationwide network of urgent, behavioral and primary care providers.
“Telehealth offers a great opportunity to expand access and reach consumers where they are and complements our brick-and-mortar Walmart Health locations,” said Dr. Cheryl Pegus, executive vice president for health and wellness at Walmart. “Today, people expect omnichannel access to care, and adding telehealth to our Walmart Health care strategies allows us to provide in-person and digital care across our multiple assets and solutions.”
What Else Happened:Walmart Health began in September 2019, and offers primary care, dental, optometry, X-ray, counseling and diagnostic lab services. The retailer operates 20 clinics in Arkansas, Georgia and Illinois, and is planning to open 11 more across Florida.
The acquisition of MeMD follows the departure of two medical executives who played important roles in establishing Walmart Health.
According to a report in the trade journalMedCityNews, Dr. Tom Van Gilder, Walmart’s first chief medical officer, is leaving the company on May 15. His departure follows the exit of Dr. Roshan Parikh, Walmart’s head of dentistry, who left the company last month.