MinuteClinic opens in CVS stores in Woonsocket, Cranston and Wakefield

NURSE practitioner Corissa Pond enters patient data at a MinuteClinic in a Seekonk CVS/pharmacy. Three MinuteClinics opened this week in Woonsocket, Cranston and Wakefield. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL PERSSON
NURSE practitioner Corissa Pond enters patient data at a MinuteClinic in a Seekonk CVS/pharmacy. Three MinuteClinics opened this week in Woonsocket, Cranston and Wakefield. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL PERSSON

WOONSOCKET – MinuteClinic, the retail medical clinic of CVS Health, has opened its first three locations in Rhode Island this week inside of CVS/pharmacy stores in Woonsocket, Cranston and Wakefield.

The Rhode Island clinics are part of MinuteClinic’s plan to add 150 clinics nationwide in 2014.

Woonsocket’s clinic is at 1054 Cass Ave., Cranston’s is at 681 Reservoir Ave. and Wakefield, 11 Main St.

MinuteClinic locations are open seven days a week with no appointment necessary. Most major health insurance is accepted in Rhode Island, including Medicare and Medicaid health plans. For patients paying cash or credit, treatment prices are posted at each clinic and on www.minuteclinic.com. The cost for most services starts at $79.

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“MinuteClinic is the latest innovation CVS Health is bringing to its home state to help expand access to high quality care and lower costs,” Dr. Andrew Sussman, president, MinuteClinic and senior vice president/ associate chief medical officer, CVS Health, said in a statement. “As we have experienced elsewhere in New England and across the U.S., MinuteClinic can support the primary care medical model by offering services at convenient locations near where patients live and work and at times when traditional options may not be available.”

The Rhode Island clinics are included in a clinical collaboration between MinuteClinic and Lifespan to enhance continuity of care with the primary care community. Lifespan is Rhode Island’s largest health system.

The clinics are staffed by MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and physician assistants who specialize in family health care and can diagnose, treat and write prescriptions for common family illnesses such as strep throat and ear, eye, sinus, bladder and bronchial infections. Minor wounds, abrasions, skin conditions and knee and ankle sprains are treated, and common vaccinations such as influenza, tetanus, pneumonia and Hepatitis A & B are available.

“About 50 percent of MinuteClinic visits occur on evenings, weekends and holidays when patients may not be able to get an appointment with their primary care provider,” Sussman said. “For the large number of patients who do not have a primary care physician, we provide a list of local physicians taking new patients for future care.”

MinuteClinic also will collaborate with the Rhode Island Free Clinic, providing care for free to its patients, as part of its overall commitment to increasing access to affordable health care in Rhode Island. CVS Health already provides free medications for these patients at several CVS/pharmacy locations in the state.

“The support of MinuteClinic nurse practitioners and physician assistants in providing care to our patients, will be a great complement to the quality care provided at Rhode Island Free Clinic,” Marie Ghazal Rhode Island Free Clinic CEO said in a statement.

The MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics in Rhode Island operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

MinuteClinic will open in East Greenwich at 1285 South County Trail, North Smithfield at 120 Eddie Dowling Highway, Providence at 799 Hope St. and Westerly at 151 Franklin St. later this year or next year.

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