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Take Care Health Systems(Sm) and Walgreens Open ''Health Corner Clinics'' in Chicago

Posted on: Monday, 6 November 2006, 21:00 CST

For the first time, Chicago-area residents will benefit from a new health care delivery model that is sweeping the nation. Take Care Health, a leading operator of convenient care clinics, in partnership with Walgreen Co. (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG), the nation's largest drugstore chain, announced today that it has opened four Health Corner Clinics inside Chicago-area Walgreens. The company plans to open four additional Health Corner Clinics by the end of November and 10 additional clinics in the next few months, totaling 18 in the Chicago-area.

"We are proud to be the first company to offer this type of convenient and affordable health care to Chicago-area residents and to partner with Walgreens in its hometown," said Take Care Health CEO Peter Miller. "Take Care Health's goal is to unite affordable, high-quality care with world-class service, creating a unique experience for patients. Our Take Care Nurse Practitioners and relationship with Advocate Health Partners enable us to deliver this experience to each patient in the Chicago area."

Health Corner Clinics are professional family health care clinics, operated locally by Take Care Health Illinois, Inc. Located next to the pharmacy inside Walgreens, Take Care Nurse Practitioners treat patients 18 months and older for common, acute ailments, including colds; flu; ear infections; sinus, upper respiratory and bladder infections; pink eye, and others. Take Care Nurse Practitioners will begin administering flu shots later this week.

"These clinics can improve health care delivery by making it more convenient and affordable for patients with common ailments," said Don Huonker, Walgreens vice president of pharmacy services. "The services offered at a Health Corner Clinic will complement care provided by the patient's primary care physician. Our goal is to ensure the physician is aware of all of the patient's treatment and can properly coordinate care."

Health Corner Clinics

No appointments are necessary and the clinics are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Clinics open today inside these Walgreens stores:

Elk Grove Village -- 930 Elk Grove Town Center

St. Charles -- 3351 W. Main St.

Morton Grove -- 9301 Waukegan Road

Plainfield -- 24801 W. 135th St.

Clinics will open at the end of November inside these Walgreens stores:

Libertyville - 1770 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Naperville - 3035 Book Road

Montgomery - 1799 Douglas Road

Mount Prospect - 1701 E Kensington Rd

Take Care Health accepts most commercial insurance plans as well as most Medicare and Medicaid plans. Sixty-nine percent of insured individuals in the Chicago market can come to a Health Corner Clinic for the cost of their co-pay or co-insurance. For uninsured patients, the average fee ranges from $59-$74 per visit.

Insurance plans covering a visit to a Health Corner Clinic in the Chicago area include:

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois -- PPO and traditional

Great-West Healthcare

Humana -- PPO and Classic

Humana Medicare -- Gold PFFS and HumanaChoice PPO

Group Health Plan (Coventry)

PersonalCare (Coventry)

Medicare

GHP Medicare -- Advantra and Gold Advantage

United Healthcare -- Medicare Complete

United Healthcare -- All commercial products

First Health/CCN

Collaboration with Advocate Health Partners

Take Care Health is committed to working in cooperation with the greater health care community toward a shared goal of providing accessible, patient-focused, quality health care in the Chicago area. A select group of physicians affiliated with Advocate Health Partners will become part of Take Care Health's quality initiative, performing reviews on a portion of patient health records. This support complements Take Care Health's internal quality and safety programs.

"Take Care's Health Corner Clinics will expand our community's options for receiving accessible, affordable and high-quality care," said Anil Keswani, M.D., Associate Medical Director at Dreyer Medical Clinic, and a member of Advocate Health Partners. "Providing safe, quality care is a primary focus and a core skill at Dreyer, and I will apply those same high standards as a collaborating physician for Take Care Health. We look forward to playing a role in expanding the availability of quality health care services for the patients and families of Fox Valley."

In addition to the strong relationship with Advocate Health Partners, Take Care Health will also work with other primary care physicians and specialists in the Chicago region to foster a strong referral network for patients to get the care they need, when they need it. Take Care Health encourages all patients to have a primary care provider. If a patient doesn't have such a provider, nurse practitioners will provide a list of physicians in the area accepting new patients.

Convenient Care Association

On October 24, retail clinic owners that make up the Convenient Care Industry launched the Convenient Care Association (CCA), a first-of-its-kind trade association and non-profit organization focused on delivering guidance, developing standards and providing strong representation for the industry. The CCA was established in the summer of 2006, as a result of a leadership Summit convened to shape the future direction of the Convenient Care Industry. Take Care Health is a founding member of the CCA.

At the end of this month, Take Care Health will operate 36 clinics, including the eight opening in the Chicago market this month, as well as locations in St. Louis, Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Take Care Health plans to open over 200 centers in 2007 and more than 1,000 centers in U.S. cities by 2009.

About Take Care Health Systems

Take Care Health Systems (www.takecarehealth.com) is a leading independent operator of convenient care clinics. Take Care Health's vision is to combine best practices in medicine and the expertise and personal care of Take Care Nurse Practitioners to provide high quality, accessible and affordable health care to Americans. Take Care Health has a 98% patient satisfaction rating and has treated close to 50,000 patients since November 2005. Take Care Health is a founding member of the Convenient Care Association (CCA).

About Walgreens

Walgreen Co. is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2006 sales of $47.4 billion. The company operates 5,515 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, including 76 Happy Harry's stores in Delaware and surrounding states. Walgreens also provides additional services to pharmacy patients and prescription drug and medical plans through Walgreens Health Services, its managed care division, which includes Walgreens Health Initiatives Inc. (a pharmacy benefits manager), Walgreens Mail Service Inc., Walgreens Home Care Inc., and Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy.

About Advocate Health Partners

Advocate Health Partners is the care management and managed care contracting joint venture between Advocate Health Care and select physicians on the medical staffs of Advocate hospitals. With a physician network that includes more than 900 primary care physicians and 1,800 specialists, Advocate Health Partners is focused on improving health care quality and outcomes -- while reducing the overall cost of care -- in the both the inpatient and ambulatory settings. Advocate Health Partners' award-winning clinically integrated approach to patient care utilizes best practices in evidence-based medicine, advanced technology and quality improvement techniques.

Source: Business Wire

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