• Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, March 11, 2009 11 AM

CVS Caremark is putting 16% percent of its 469 retail health clinics on hiatus until the next flu season begins in the fall, Bruce Japsen reports. The move came under fire from the Illinois State Medical Society, which represents 12,000 doctors. "With the economy's severe downturn and the uninsured ranks steadily rising, it's an interesting time for retail clinics to close their doors if their mission truly was to serve the uninsured," says Dr. Shastri Swaminathan, president of the organization.

CVS says an analysis shows it still can adequately provide service to consumers with its remaining clinics, which will continue to be open seven days a week, most with expanded hours. "We're expanding on a number of fronts," says MinuteClinic president Chip Phillips, citing the opening this month of three clinics in Massachusetts.

Typically staffed by advanced-degree nurses known as practitioners, most of the nation's 1,100 retail health clinics -- operated by companies including CVS, Walgreen and Wal-Mart -- treat patients for routine maladies such as ear or sinus infections, strep throat and pink eye. Health insurers, employers and consumer groups have greeted the model as one way to address the rising number of uninsured Americans, which is up to 45 million.

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