CVS Health's MinuteClinic Debuts in St. Louis at 5 Stores (revised)

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Healthcare service provider CVS Health Corporation (CVS) has recently inaugurated five MinuteClinic walk-in clinics within selective CVS/pharmacy stores in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Creve Coeur, Ellisville, O'Fallon, St. Peters and St. Louis (Mehlville) are the five locations hosting the latest MinuteClinic operations.

These St. Louis clinics add to the already-existing 15 MinuteClinic locations in the Kansas City metropolitan area in Missouri. Moreover, with these, the overall tally across the country increased to an impressive 900.

Management believes that the demand for MinuteClinic services in Missouri is on the rise due to the essential lack of primary care physicians, the aging Baby Boomer population and the emergence of newly insured patients owing to the Affordable Care Act.

MinuteClinic – the retail health care division of CVS Health – is currently the largest and fastest growing provider of walk-in medical clinics in the U.S. MinuteClinic locations are open seven days a week, providing the comfort of evening hour consultations without the need for any prior appointment.

MinuteClinic has served as the company's major growth driver ever since its acquisition by CVS Health in 2006. Evidently, CVS Health's revenues from MinuteClinic operations increased a robust 24% in the last reported quarter.

CVS Health opened 32 new clinics in the last reported quarter, bringing the year-to date total to 60. Management is confident of starting at least 150 additional clinics by the end of 2014.

Moreover, a new partnership between CVS Health and USA Football and Pop Warner youth football league has led to the latter naming MinuteClinic as their official retail medical clinic and sports physical provider. This is clearly indicative of the growing popularity and acceptability of MinuteClinic's services in the U.S.

Currently CVS Health has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical sector include ICU Medical, Inc. (ICUI), Abaxis, Inc. (ABAX) and Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CNAT). While ICU Medical sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both Abaxis and Conatus hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

(We are reissuing this article to correct a mistake. The original article, issued September 12, 2014, should no longer be relied upon.)Read the Full Research Report on CVS
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