Sacred Heart Health System to Operate Retail Clinics at Four Pensacola Area Walgreens Locations

DEERFIELD, Ill. & PENSACOLA, Fla. – Jan. 9, 2017 – Walgreens and Sacred Heart Health System have signed an agreement to have Sacred Heart operate and provide all clinical services at four retail health clinics to be located within Walgreens stores in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.   
 
Two existing Walgreens Healthcare Clinics are planned to transition to Sacred Heart this spring at which time the clinics will become an extension of the Sacred Heart Medical Group.  Walgreens will continue to manage these Healthcare Clinic locations until that time. In addition, Sacred Heart plans to open two new retail clinics in other area Walgreens stores in the spring.  All of the sites will be named Sacred Heart Clinic at Walgreens.
 
This new clinic agreement expands on an existing clinical collaboration and pharmacy relationship between Walgreens and Sacred Heart focused on enhanced communications to better coordinate care. Today’s agreement further improves care coordination by fully integrating the clinics into Sacred Heart Medical Group.  In addition, Walgreens operates an on-site pharmacy at Sacred Heart Hospital’s main campus, where Walgreens provides pharmacy services for Sacred Heart patients and employees.
 
“Our collaboration with Walgreens is an important step in Sacred Heart’s commitment to improve access to care and to improve the health of the communities we serve,” said Susan Davis, president and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System.  “The convenience of Walgreens locations and its pharmacy services along with Sacred Heart’s personalized care and expertise, will advance our efforts to improve the health of our patients. We want to offer the most appropriate level of care to consumers when and where they need it.”
 
The Sacred Heart Clinic at Walgreens locations will include: 

• 8220 Navarre Pkwy, Navarre  
• 6314 N. 9th Ave, Pensacola  
• 3909 Highway 90, Pace
• 2237 W. Nine Mile Road, Pensacola

As part of the agreement, Walgreens and Sacred Heart will also form a collaborative council to share best practices and experiences that aim to improve patient care, quality and satisfaction, while reducing health care costs.
 
“With the changing needs of patients in today’s healthcare environment, forming deeper and more collaborative relationships with health systems is key,” said Pat Carroll, MD, chief medical officer for Walgreens Healthcare Clinics.  “We continue to expand our relationships with established community health systems, like Sacred Heart, in efforts to enhance care coordination for our patients. We look forward to collaborating even more with Sacred Heart as they share our commitment to provide convenient access to high quality and affordable health care services.”
 
Sacred Heart plans to operate the Sacred Heart Clinic at Walgreens locations seven days a week, including evenings, giving patients the option to access a variety of health care services without an appointment. Services will be provided by board-certified nurse practitioners who provide care for common minor illnesses and injuries. Sacred Heart will continue to evaluate the possibility of new services in the future.
 
Sacred Heart serves seven counties along the Gulf Coast between Apalachicola, Fla. and Gulf Shores, Ala. The hub of the Sacred Heart system is its 566-bed Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.  The facilities in Pensacola include The Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Sacred Heart, a Level II Trauma Center, a Cancer Center affiliated with MD Anderson Cancer Network,   and the area’s leading Maternity Center. The Health System also includes Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, a 70-bed community hospital near Destin, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Gulf, a 19-bed hospital in Port St. Joe, Fla., and Sacred Heart Medical Group, a large regional network of primary care and specialty physicians. 
 
About Walgreens
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com), one of the nation's largest drugstore chains, is included in the Retail Pharmacy USA Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA), the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. More than 10 million customers interact with Walgreens each day in communities across America, using the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice. Walgreens operates 8,175 drugstores with a presence in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Walgreens omnichannel business includes Walgreens.com and VisionDirect.com. Approximately 400 Walgreens stores offer Healthcare Clinic or other provider retail clinic services. 
 
About Sacred Heart Health System
On the Gulf Coast, Ascension operates Sacred Heart Health System based in Pensacola, Fla.  and Providence Health System based in Mobile, Ala.  Together, these Ascension healthcare facilities have served Gulf Coast communities for more than 160 years and they employ more than 6,600 associates. Across the region, Ascension provided more than $113 million in community benefit and care of persons living in poverty in fiscal year 2016.  Ascension is a faith-based healthcare organization committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Ascension is the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, operating 2,500 sites of care – including 141 hospitals and more than 30 senior living facilities – in 24 states and the District of Columbia. For more on Sacred Heart Health System, visit www.sacred-heart.org.