Addressing lack of retail clinics in Philadelphia

Philadelphia City Council held a hearing on why there aren’t as many drugstore clinics in the city as in the suburbs.  One major provider isn’t ready to give a direct answer.

Councilman Curtis Jones called for the hearings after seeing the drugstore clinics throughout the suburbs but few in the city.  He says the clinics offer the public a mid-priced option for healthcare.

“The price of cough medicine is no different than the price of cough medicine in urban areas, so we want the same types of services offered to our friends in the suburbs.”

Paulette Thabault is the Chief nurse practicioner of CVS Minute Clinic.  She could not fully explain why there are fewer clinics in the city.

“No, I would not say they are evenly distributed, again as I’ve mention about the various criteria we want to have clinics that are successful for the long term so we need to look at the different factors that might be going into establishing a clinic.

Those criteria include zoning regulations, traffic patterns, and access to public transportation.

For a list of existing drugstore clinics in our area, visit CVS MinuteClinic.