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Health care clinics setting up shop inside area Kroger stores

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Trina Prince of New Lebanon fills out paperwork before having her son Adam Weber, 6, examined at the Premier ExpressCare clinic in the Kroger store in Englewood

Jan Underwood Trina Prince of New Lebanon fills out paperwork before having her son Adam Weber, 6, examined at the Premier ExpressCare clinic in the Kroger store in Englewood

By Ben Sutherly, Staff Writer Updated 11:34 PM Saturday, March 20, 2010

ENGLEWOOD — In a clinic tucked away between the Englewood Kroger’s liquor department and pharmacy, Miriah Boocher and other certified nurse practitioners see patients young and old for a host of minor health issues.

Boocher enjoys using the spectrum of her family practice education not only for illness care, but to promote health and wellness.

“I have the best job,” she said between patients this week.

Such store-based health clinics are becoming more common locally. They’re touted for their convenience: No appointment is required.

Premier HealthNet, which opened the Englewood Kroger clinic in late 2008, also runs clinics seven days a week at Kroger stores in Beavercreek and Kettering. It plans to open a fourth location in the yet-to-be built Kroger Marketplace in Centerville, said Mindy Nemon, practice manager for Premier HealthNet, which is part of Premier Health Partners.

Premier views the clinics as a way to introduce patients to the Premier Health system, which includes hospitals such as Miami Valley and Good Samaritan — not necessarily as a profit center, Nemon said. Still, she said, Premier HealthNet would like to boost traffic at its three locations, which had just over 6,000 visits between them in 2009. The goal: about 6,000 visits per location.

Kroger has more than 100 retail health clinics nationwide, many of which are operated by Brentwood, Tenn.-based The Little Clinic in the Cincinnati and Columbus markets. Walmart has 64 clinics managed by a third party in 17 states.

The Little Clinic, the third largest retail health clinic operator nationwide with 147 locations, prefers to be in grocery stores instead of chain drugstores due to higher foot traffic and more frequent repeat visits by customers, said Lisa Loscalzo, the company’s president.

As for concerns about sick people entering a business that sells food, she said, “If you’ve got a pharmacy in the grocery store, you’ve got some (sick) people coming in anyway.” She noted the clinics are regulated at the local, state and federal level.

The Little Clinic had “strong” double-digit same-store growth in 2009 from 2008, Loscalzo said. It opened 55 locations in 2009, up from 48 in 2008.

The American Medical Association believes store-based health clinics can be a good option for episodic care, but should have a referral plan in place when a patient’s needs go beyond what the clinic can provide.

The retail health care model isn’t meant to replace primary care physicians, Loscalzo said, though she noted up to 60 percent of patients who utilize the clinics don’t have a primary-care doctor.

“We do make it clear that we’re not there to manage their ongoing health needs in a long-term fashion,” she said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Convenience care clinics at a glance

Premier HealthNet operates convenience care clinics at Kroger stores in Beavercreek, Kettering and Englewood. Here are a few facts about them:

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Wait time: Usually 20 minutes or less. No appointments needed.

Cost to patient: Typically around $55 or an insurance co-payment

Caregivers: Nurses who staff the clinics work in collaboration with local, off-site Premier HealthNet physicians.

Examples of conditions treated: Flu, fever, sore throat, bronchitis, allergies, ear infections, poison ivy, respiratory infections, sprains, pink eye, dog and insect bites, sinus infections, minor burns

Conditions not treated: Major illnesses, chronic conditions

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