take care clinic

Take Care Health SystemsSM Opens "Health Corner Clinics" in St. Louis Walgreens Drugstores

08.17.06

High Quality, Affordable Health Care Now Conveniently Located for St. Louis Residents

CONSHOHOCKEN, PA (August 17, 2006) Take Care Health, a leading operator of convenient care clinics, announced today that it has opened six Health Corner Clinics in the greater St. Louis area inside Walgreens drugstores. Three more clinics are scheduled to open after Labor Day as part of a multi-phase expansion strategy.

"Health Corner Clinics are professional health care centers that provide a convenient and affordable way for the people of St. Louis to receive high-quality health care for common ailments," said Peter Miller, Take Care Health President, CEO and co-founder. "Kansas City has embraced this new generation of health care delivery and we are confident that residents of St. Louis will do the same. Our Take Care Nurse Practitioners, registered nurses with Master's degrees and advanced education who staff the clinics, have treated more than 15,000 patients in Kansas City since opening clinics there last year."

"These clinics can improve health care delivery by making it more convenient and affordable for patients with common ailments," said Don Huonker, Walgreens vice president of pharmacy services. "The services offered at a Health Corner Clinic will complement care provided by the patient's primary care physician. Our goal is to work with the physician so that they are aware of all of the patient's treatment and can properly coordinate care."

The Health Corner Clinics are locally operated by Take Care Health Missouri, P.C. Take Care Nurse Practitioners (TCNPs) treat patients 18 months and older for common, acute ailments. They diagnose, treat and write commonly used prescriptions for illnesses including strep throat; ear, sinus, upper respiratory and bladder infections; pink eye; poison ivy; and seasonal allergies among others. The TCNPs at the Health Corner Clinics also offer standard diagnostic screenings for blood pressure, blood sugar, and pregnancy. A limited number of vaccinations, including flu shots and boosters for tetanus shots, will be offered in the coming months.

The new Health Corner Clinics in St. Louis do not require appointments and are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. They are located directly across from the pharmacy inside the following Walgreens locations:

Clinics currently open:

Clinics opening after Labor Day:

Take Care Health accepts most commercial insurance plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid plans. Major insurance plans will be added within the next 30 days as further contracts are finalized. For insured patients, the cost of a clinic visit is generally the same as the office visit co-pay. For uninsured patients or cash payers, the average fee for service ranges from $59-$74 per visit. Insurance plans covering a visit to Health Corner Clinics in St. Louis include:

Collaboration with SSM Health Care-St. Louis

In July, Take Care Health announced that it will collaborate with SSM Health Care-St. Louis (SSMHC), one of the largest full-service health care networks in the St. Louis area, to ensure high-quality health care and integration of patient care. SSMHC-St. Louis coordinates the collaborating physician agreements for the TCNPs who staff the area Health Corner Clinics. A select group of physicians affiliated with SSMHC-St. Louis are part of Take Care Health's quality health care initiative, performing quality review on a portion of Take Care Health's patient health records, complementing the company's proprietary nurse practitioner peer review and other incident tracking and reporting programs.

In addition to the collaborative relationship, SSMHC-St. Louis can work with TCNPs by accepting referrals when conditions fall outside of Take Care Health's scope of practice. Likewise, SSMHC-St. Louis physicians, where appropriate, can refer patients to the Health Corner Clinics during busy office hours, after-hours or for minor conditions.

"In addition to the strong relationship with SSMHC-St. Louis, Take Care Health will also work with other primary care physicians and specialists in the St. Louis region for patient referrals," said Sue Ferbet, Lead Nurse Practitioner for the St. Louis market. "The Health Corner Clinics are a beginning to great patient care – an additional access and entry point into the health care system."

The relationship with SSMHC-St. Louis and other physicians in the region is representative of Take Care Health's focus on working in cooperation with the greater health care community toward a shared goal of providing accessible, patient-focused, quality health care in St. Louis.

Take Care Health remains committed to guidelines set forth for the industry by the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Association.

To date, Take Care Health operates 23 centers in St. Louis, greater Kansas City and Portland, Ore. Take Care Health will open up to 20 centers this fall in Chicago area Walgreens stores, and will also expand on the East Coast later this year. Take Care Health plans to open 200 centers by June 2007 and 1,400 centers in U.S. cities by 2009.

About Take Care Health SystemsSM
Take Care Health Systems (www.takecarehealth.com)of Conshohocken, Pa., a leading independent operator of convenient care clinics, is bringing high-quality, convenient and affordable health care to all Americans. Take Care Health's vision to combine best practices in medicine and the expertise and personal care of Take Care Nurse Practitioners (TCNPs) with world-class customer service is filling a critical need in America by providing easy access to health care. Take Care Health Centers are located inside national retail pharmacies, including Walgreens and Rite Aid, where TCNPs focus exclusively on diagnosis, treatment, screening and vaccinations for common family illnesses. Take Care Health collaborates with the medical communities in the markets where it operates and strongly supports the guidelines for convenient care clinics, set forth by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

About Walgreens
Walgreen Co. (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2005 sales of $42.2 billion. The company operates 5,294 stores in 46 states and Puerto Rico. Walgreens also provides additional services to pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Services, its managed care division, which includes Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefits manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc. and Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy.

Key Contacts:

Lauren Tierney
Take Care Health SystemsSM
(484) 351-3212

Michael Polzin
Walgreen Co.
847-914-2925

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