Health Clinic Opens in Wal-Mart

Evans, GA—Welcome to Evans Wal-Mart, home of McDonald’s, a pharmacy, your vision center, and now, a health clinic. “We want to be convenient for patients. It’s a great partnership,“ says Jim Hawkins, Manager of MCG’s School of Nursing’s Faculty Practice Group.

The partnership joins Wal-Mart and MCG Nursing School. The faculty practice group is running this new clinic…Wal-Mart is simply the landlord. It’s staffed by board certified nurse practitioners. As they say, the clinic may be in a discount store, but there’s no discount in quality.

“It’s a comprehensive clinic with a nurse practitioner providing the medical care. And we will do the full exam, admit them like any doctor’s office, greet them, admit them, do the full exam, provide prescriptions,“ says Karyn Kelly, FPM.

Right now, it’s cash or credit only. And they’re upfront about what they do—treatment for bronchitis or sinus infections, flu shots, physicals. A good rule of thumb… “If you have to take off your clothes or you’re oozing, this is not the place to be.“

For potential patients, they like the clinic for its convenience and accessibility. “I watched them build it, and i couldn’t wait til it opened. It’s a great thing for the community, and it will fit a lot of needs.“
 
“We have a paging system. Patients can go shop and then we’ll beep them when it’s time for them to be seen,“ says Hawkins.

The nurse practitioners are supervised by ER physicians at MCG. If a case comes in that is out of their scope of treatment, the NPs will refer the patient to a doctor or hospital if necessary.

Hours are Monday - Saturday 10 am -7 pm and Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm. The clinic is hoping to accept insurance sometime in January.