Take Care Health Systems, a division of Walgreens (NYSE: WAG)(NASDAQ:
WAG), and the University of Notre Dame, today announced the opening of
an on-site wellness center located on the Notre Dame campus. The center
serves full-time university faculty and staff, their spouses and
dependents, and the spouses and children of graduate students.
Following a grand opening ceremony on July 11th, the facility
officially opened for patients today.
Notre Dame’s on-campus wellness center reflects the direction many
organizations are taking by offering more comprehensive health care
services for employees and their dependents. Notre Dame currently
operates and will continue to operate its health center for students.
Take Care Health Systems is one of the nation's largest and most
comprehensive managers of convenient care clinics and employer-based
health and wellness centers.
“We are excited to work with such a prestigious institution as the
University of Notre Dame, which continues to demonstrate a commitment to
its communities by moving beyond basic programs to offer a more
comprehensive array of health services for faculty, staff and
dependents,” said Peter Hotz, group vice president for Walgreens Health
and Wellness division. “We are increasingly seeing educational
institutions recognizing what many innovative companies have found –
namely that by investing in broad worksite health programs they can
expect to see improved patient outcomes, overall savings and happier and
more productive employees.”
The Notre Dame Wellness Center serves nearly 12,000 people. The center
is more than 7,000 square feet and provides full primary care, urgent
care, pharmacy services (including infusion therapy, specialty pharmacy
and a drive-thru window), lab testing, allergy and flu shots, travel
medicine, vaccinations and physical therapy. In addition, the center’s
staff works to identify chronic health conditions and provide education
on nutrition and exercise to help reduce risk factors. The wellness
center’s staff includes a full-time physician, nurse practitioners, a
physical therapist, registered nurses, phlebotomists, certified medical
assistants and wellness coaches.
“We are committed to fostering an exceptional environment not only for
all our students, but for our faculty, staff and their dependents as
well. Helping these members of our community stay healthy is integral to
achieving this,” said Robert McQuade, Notre Dame vice president for
human resources. “By providing convenient access to the broad range of
healthcare services available through this wellness center, we are
making Notre Dame a better place to work and learn.”
Employers are increasingly looking to offer onsite health and wellness
services, according to a 2011 report from Towers Watson and the National
Business Group on Health. Results published in the report were generated
from a survey of 588 employers conducted between November 2010 and
January 2011 and showed that 23 percent of companies currently offer
onsite health services and that an additional 12 percent of companies
plan to begin to offer services in 2012.
About Walgreens
As the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72
billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com)
vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living.
Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most
convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and
trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and
advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy
services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail
service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health
outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care
organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public
sector. The company operates 7,907 drugstores in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
About Notre Dame
Founded in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is the nation’s preeminent
Catholic university and is rated among the top 25 of all U.S.
institutions of higher learning. Notre Dame is organized into four
undergraduate colleges — Arts and Letters, Science, Engineering, and the
Mendoza College of Business — the School of Architecture, the Law
School, the Graduate School, 10 major research institutes, more than 40
centers and special programs, and the University library system. Located
adjacent to the city of South Bend, approximately 90 miles east of
Chicago, it is highly residential, with 80 percent of students living on
campus, and also is known for the quality of its physical plant and the
beauty of its campus, including the Golden Dome of the Main Building,
the world’s most recognized university landmark.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements regarding Walgreens and Take Care Health Systems in this
release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and
uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in Item 1A
(Risk Factors) of Walgreens most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, each of which is incorporated herein by
reference, and in other documents that Walgreens files or furnishes with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions
prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated
or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Except to the
extent required by law, Walgreens undertakes no obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking statement after the distribution of this
release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes
in assumptions or otherwise.
