Health Equity
Walgreens has maintained a steadfast commitment to promoting health equity. Out of the nearly 9,000 locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, more than half of them are situated in underserved communities.
Walgreens has implemented measures to enhance our efforts in addressing health disparities. These efforts are guided by our health equity strategy, which ensures shared accountability across business teams and focuses on three pillars: access, education and partnership to improve patient outcomes as we reimagine localized healthcare and wellbeing for all.
By increasing access & education through partnerships, we support the wellbeing of local communities, especially in these focus areas:
- Social determinants of health
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are non-medical factors that influence a person’s health and well-being, including where they’re born, grow, live, work, worship and age. Walgreens recognizes health disparities & SDOH, and we offer support & resources to reduce barriers like health literacy, lack of access to transportation, affordability and digital access.
- Vaccination & testing
Vaccinations & testing for COVID-19, flu and routine immunizations help reduce the risk and severity of illnesses. Walgreens offers patient education to address vaccine hesitancy and accessibility to vaccines & testing.
- Medication adherence & chronic care management
Medication adherence means patients take medications on time and stay on them as prescribed. Chronic conditions last 1+ years (like heart disease or cancer) & require ongoing medical care. Walgreens offers many solutions for patients to manage their chronic conditions.
- Wellness & care
Wellness & care looks at a person’s overall health and well-being. Walgreens pharmacies work with communities & local partners to provide clinical care services for physical, emotional & mental health as well as personalized, whole-person healthcare.
Access
We help eliminate barriers by providing pharmacy and healthcare services whenever and wherever our customers need us by meeting people where they are and how they prefer to engage.
Vaccine Equity. Pharmacy experts were crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic and we have expanded access to care to help the patients who needed us most.
Omnichannel. Our comprehensive range of products and services are accessible to all our patients, whether in person at our nearly 9,000 retail stores and 300+ specialized pharmacies, or conveniently online through the myWalgreens app.
Free Delivery. The high cost of transportation makes it hard for patients to pick up prescriptions. Free Delivery via FedEx for qualified prescriptions helps patients stay on track.
Social Determinants of Health. We leverage opportunities to identify the interconnected social determinants of health that can impact health outcomes. We leverage screening tools, conversation guides, and training materials to ensure we can both equip our team members and also support our customers.
Health Equity Champions Network. We have established several internal partnerships to ensure continued transparency, ongoing cross-functional and cross-enterprise collaboration and empower each team member to be a health equity ambassador. The Health Equity Champions Network is a collaborative task force to facilitate interdepartmental communication, enhance transparency, foster two-way engagement, align goals, and amplify efforts within our stores and across various business teams. This network comprises leaders from all 14 store regions of Walgreens, alongside representation from over 25 Walgreens and WBA Support Office teams. The task force is dedicated to driving progress in areas such as performance measurement, external communication, portfolio and partnership development, as well as education and training initiatives.
Education
Expert answers for all. Our pharmacy team invests in relationship and trust building by offering tailored advice for patients and incorporates intentional approaches when discussing sensitive topics.
Clinical Trials
RxSavings Tool
Partnership for Community-based healthcare
We partner with local organizations, churches, government and healthcare partners across the healthcare system as well as other sectors to reach more patients and reduce health inequities. This also includes active partnership with patients themselves to understand priorities and challenges.
Vitamin Angels: Nearly one million U.S. pregnant people have limited access to prenatal vitamins due to gaps in insurance coverage. Since 2013, Walgreens has been proud to partner with Vitamin Angels to help provide life-changing vitamins to pregnant people and young children in underserved communities across all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and more than 65 countries around the world. Learn more.
Immunization Community Outreach and Engagement: Since August 2023, Walgreens has organized hundreds of local off-site equity and community outreach events to administer various types of vaccines including COVID-19 (Ages 12+), Herpes Zoster (Shingrix), Influenza - High Dose (65+), Influenza - Standard Injectable Quadrivalent, Prevnar 20, RSV (ABRYSVO, AREXVY), and Tdap (Boostrix, Adacel).