Walgreens goes to college

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is heading to med school to build a store on the Johns Hopkins University East Baltimore medical campus.

The store, which will be designed according to the Well Experience format, will offer health and wellness programs for students, staff and the surrounding community, including health services, healthy food options and a Take Care clinic staffed by nurse practitioners, the first Walgreens in-store clinic in Maryland. The pharmacy is being opened under a collaboration between Walgreens and Johns Hopkins announced in May 2011.

"This is a significant next step in our relationship, leveraging the clinical expertise of Johns Hopkins Medicine and Walgreens expansive healthcare resources to create a retail hub for community-based care," Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness Kermit Crawford said. "Our pharmacy and Take Care Clinic will provide an environment for collaborative healthcare innovation while also providing greater access to healthcare services for the Johns Hopkins community, students, employees and patients."

Other services will include student health services, chronic disease education and awareness programs, smoking cessation, HIV testing and immunizations, including travel immunizations.

"Our collaboration with Walgreens creates the opportunity to offer innovative, locally based healthcare services while further weaving Johns Hopkins Medicine into the fabric of East Baltimore," Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine dean and Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO Paul Rothman said. "We also will use the lessons learned from this collaboration beyond our community, as Johns Hopkins Medicine continues to set the standard for medical education, research and patient care on a national scale and around the world."