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Walgreens (WBA) Expands Medical Care Offerings in California

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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA - Free Report) recently announced the launch of 12 new Walgreens Health Corner locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County in association with Blue Shield of California. The launch of the new Health Corner will expand access to personalized and virtual care options.

The recent development is likely to fortify Walgreens Health business and support Walgreens to expand access to healthcare at lower costs and bring innovative services to enhance the consumer experience for individuals, families and communities.

About Walgreens Health Corner

With the addition of Walgreens Health Corner locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles County,  individuals can get an integrated health care experience with access to Health Advisors, qualified personnel with clinical backgrounds such as pharmacists and registered nurses, for in-store health counsel, as well as support and services on the Walgreens Health Corner app.

At Walgreens Health Corner locations, services offered range from preventive care and wellness checks to assist with managing chronic conditions at no additional cost. The services can be availed by members enrolled in Blue Shield’s commercial PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) and HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plans, who live within 20 miles of a Walgreens Health Corner location.

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At present, there are 12 Walgreens Health Corner locations available in the Bay Area and Los Angeles County, and an additional eight are planned by the middle of 2022.

Strategic Efforts

Per Walgreens’ management, Health Corner's collaboration with Blue Shield will enable its eligible members and customers to access health and wellness products and services from Health Advisors at their convenience. The offering represents Walgreens’ efforts to support patients and help them recover and stay healthy across the entire care continuum.

The initiative is intended to reduce care gaps and advance care management and coordination by providing access to more affordable and convenient services in the communities where Blue Shield members live.

Recent Developments

In March 2022, Walgreens and Village MD announced plans to open three new Village Medical at Walgreens primary care practices in the Southern New Hampshire area by summer 2022-end, with the first opening scheduled on Apr 19 in Hooksett. The additional locations will open in Manchester and Nashua. It is worth noting that the Village Medical at Walgreens locations in the New Hampshire area will employ more than 35 well-compensated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) professionals. This is expected to create 80 full-time jobs.

In the same month, Walgreens, in collaboration with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, announced the nationwide availability of “Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 at-home collection kit” at no cost to individuals who meet clinical guidelines. Adding the kits in Walgreens will enable more communities to access reliable, convenient testing services as and when required. With the expansion of access to COVID-19 testing solutions, Walgreens continues to play a vital role in the nation’s pandemic response efforts.

Price Performance

Shares of the company have lost 19.1% in a year against the industry's rise of 14.5%.

Zacks Rank and Key Picks

Walgreens currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are McKesson Corporation (MCK - Free Report) , AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (AMN - Free Report) and Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (BIO - Free Report) .

McKesson, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), reported third-quarter fiscal 2022 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $6.15, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.38 by 14.3%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

McKesson has a long-term earnings growth rate of 11.8%. MCK has gained 49.7% compared with the industry’s 4.7% growth in the past year.

AMN Healthcare, flaunting a Zacks Rank #1, has a long-term earnings growth rate of 16.2%. AMN Healthcare surpassed earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters, delivering a surprise of 19.5%, on average.

AMN Healthcare has outperformed its industry in the past year. AMN has gained 23.8% versus the 62% industry decline.

Bio-Rad reported fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted EPS of $3.21, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.9%. It currently has a Zacks Rank #2.

Bio-Rad has an earnings yield of 2.3% versus the industry’s negative yield. BIO surpassed earnings estimates in the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 66.9%.

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