Two years after Walmart (WMT) closed all 51 of its standalone health centers, the retail giant is back with a more streamlined health plan. Instead of building new clinics, it is asking pharmacists already on its payroll to step out from behind the counter.
On September 15, Walmart said it would launch a six-month pilot in five rural stores where trained pharmacists take on a new role called Health Ambassador.
The stores are in Lexington, Tennessee; Caro, Michigan; Franklin, Virginia; Fort Scott, Kansas; and Searcy, Arkansas. Each ambassador will coach walk-in customers on diabetes, weight management, and maternal health. They would also direct them to services already inside the store.
The test looks small, but the framework behind it is not. Walmart runs about 4,600 pharmacies, and roughly 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of its stores. If this model works, it hints at a future where groceries and digital health tools all work together as one shopping experience.
Inside Walmart’s five-store pharmacist pilot
Each store in the trial will have one designated pharmacist who lives in the community and can spend dedicated time with shoppers away from the prescription window. According to Walmart‘s corporate announcement, ambassadors will offer scheduled or walk-in coaching, help customers pick products over the counter, walk them through healthier grocery choices, and connect them with digital wellness partners.
The pilot builds on Walmart’s existing footprint. About 4,000 Walmart stores are already located in medically underserved areas, according to the company. That gives Walmart a chance to help patients who might live hours from the nearest primary care doctor.
“Health does not happen in one place, and it rarely fits neatly into a single appointment,” said Dr. Emily Aaronson, chief medical officer of Walmart U.S. She added in an interview with Chain Drug Review that “pharmacists are trusted. They are accessible during evenings and weekends. Many have served the same community for years and know their patients by name.” This helps to build trust between them and customers.
Six months is a short period for the test. But Walmart plans to use customer feedback and performance data to decide whether the model is worth scaling to more of its rural locations.
Why Walmart is trading clinics for a lighter health model
In April 2024, Walmart closed all 51 of its Walmart Health centers, Fierce Healthcare reported. The company also shut down its virtual primary care service, saying there was no sustainable business model amid weak insurance reimbursement rates. That was five years after the retailer first opened the clinics.
The Health Ambassador role avoids that operating cost. There are no new buildings, no new medical staff, and no primary care billing to chase. The company is leveraging pharmacists it already employs and giving them time to talk with shoppers.
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Health and wellness now make up roughly 16% of Walmart’s U.S. sales, according to Semafor, and that share is growing faster than the grocery business. That explains why executives keep looking for ways to get more value out of the pharmacy counter without repeating the clinic mistake.
Walmart also launched Better Care Services in April, a digital marketplace that connects shoppers with weight-management providers including Aaptiv, Berry Street, Curai Health, and Wheel. The Health Ambassador model is designed to divert more foot traffic into that same platform.
How the GLP-1 boom is changing Walmart’s food strategy
Roughly 11% of Americans reported using GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Zepbound as of June 2026, up from just 3% in 2024. That reduces the amount of groceries people need.
Walmart flagged more than a year ago that customers filling GLP-1 prescriptions at its pharmacies were spending less on food overall.
On its August earnings call, executives said GLP-1 drug sales added about 1 percentage point to Walmart U.S. same-store sales in fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, and that boost is expected to be about half as much in fiscal 2027 as lower drug prices offset the rise in prescription volume, Investing.com reported.
Coaching shoppers on smaller, high-protein meals gives Walmart a chance to steer them toward higher-margin food alternatives inside its own aisles. It also builds loyalty around a monthly prescription refill.
“In a retail industry that spends billions chasing foot traffic, that is the most reliable recurring customer relationship on the market,” Jackie Swanson, managing partner at Gartner Consulting, told CNBC, referring to GLP-1 patients returning for regular refills.
What the pilot means for WMT investors right now
Walmart shares traded near $107.38 on September 21, down about 11% over the past six months and close to 5% year to date.
The retailer’s fiscal second-quarter revenue reached $187.94 billion, up 5.94% year over year, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.81 beat expectations of $0.74, according to Walmart‘s earnings release. Management also raised its full-year fiscal 2027 sales outlook to a growth range of 4% to 5%.
The average price target from 32 analysts is roughly $128, with 29 buy ratings and three holds, which leaves solid room for a rebound if profit margins hold up.
New investors considering Walmart should watch whether pilot stores show higher combined pharmacy and grocery sales, and whether management expands the ambassador model beyond the initial five locations.
Related: Target is taking on Walmart with a major grocery move
