Similar to itsonline rival, Amazon, Walmart is seeking to disrupt the health careindustry by offering low-cost and low-barrier services.
In part of an effort to expand its health care business, Walmartis expanding its offering of nearly free college courses, focusingon health and wellness.
|The company's 1.5 million employees can now apply for nine different highereducation programs through six universities.
|Employees can receive training as pharmacy technicians oropticians through Penn Foster, an online college, or they canpursue bachelors degrees in business, health care administrationand IT specialties through the University of Florida, theUniversity of Southern New Hampshire, Purdue University Global,Bellevue University and Wilmington University.
|Related: Walmart expanding its retail clinicofferings
|Walmart is also pondering adding behavioral health specialtiesto the mix next year.
|Workers who qualify for the program only pay $1 a day intuition, or $365 a year. The company launched the program in May2018, but initially it only offered degrees in supply chainmanagement or business and only those without college degrees wereeligible.
|The retail giant hopes the offer will yield a stock of qualifiedprofessionals to staff its rapidly growing network of health careproviders, which includes 5,000 pharmacies, 3,000 vision centersand 400 hearing centers.
|"These offerings will arm associates to fill criticalhealth-care roles across Walmart and Sam's Club," Walmart chiefmedical officer, Thomas Van Gilder, said in a call with reporters."It's filling a critical need in a growing field."
|Similar to its online rival Amazon, Walmart is seeking todisrupt the health care industry by offering low-cost andlow-barrier services.
|Next month, the company will begin offering Sam's Club members inPennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina bundled health careservices for a monthly fee. Individuals who pay $50 a month willqualify for unlimited $1 per-consultation telehealth services, bigdiscounts on a variety of wellness services, such as chiropracticand massage therapy, and free access to 20 generic prescriptiondrugs.
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