SPRINGDALE, Ark. — Walmart has opened its fourth Walmart Health Center adjacent to a remodeled Supercenter here. The facility, which is the first to debut outside of Georgia, is situated less than 20 miles from Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Walmart Health Centers are dramatically different than the retailer’s 18 walk-in Care Clinics located within Walmart stores in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. First, they are significantly larger than Care Clinics, which measure approximately 1,500 square feet. Secondly, in some cases by partnering with local providers, they offer an impressive range of services, including primary care, dentistry, optometry, counseling, laboratory tests, X-rays, hearing, wellness education and behavioral health.

The first Walmart Health Center opened in Dallas, Ga., last September, followed by a unit in Calhoun, Ga. Earlier this month the third facility opened its doors in Loganville, Ga.

According to the company, each of the facilities opened so far is unique, serving as individual prototypes to test and explore the right mix of health and wellness services for different communities. For instance, the latest unit in Springdale has a smaller format and a different menu of services than the facility in ­Loganville.

What each location shares, however, is the fact that they are operated by qualified medical professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, behavioral health providers and optometrists.

“This is our first Walmart Health Prototype outside of Georgia, and we’re excited to continue our history of innovation that has transformed the industry and created significant health care savings for customers,” says Sean Slovenski, senior vice president and president of Walmart U.S. Health and Wellness. “We’re looking forward to bringing affordability and convenience to the Springdale community and continue our focus on a solution to the current state of health care by offering affordable integrated care that our customers want and deserve.”

In a recent article posted on Walmart’s website, Slovenski noted the heightened urgency that the COVID-19 outbreak has brought to the effort to find affordable, effective solutions to the country’s already dysfunctional health care system.

“We’re navigating a global pandemic that has exposed the vulnerabilities of our health care system and makes it hard for many families to get the care they need when they need it,” Slovenski writes. “We also face record unemployment, leaving many families without access to vital health care resources in the process.”

Slovenski points out that, with 90% of Americans living within 10 miles of a Walmart store, the retailer is well positioned in terms of geographic coverage to bring quality health care to communities that need it the most. If the Walmart Health Centers are successful enough to warrant a nationwide rollout, they may well prove to be equally as disruptive as the retailer’s revolutionary $4 generic prescription drug program launched more than a decade ago.

While the Health Centers accept most types of insurance, their greatest impact for under-insured and uninsured patients will lie in their cash prices and the transparency of those prices. For example, a patient can obtain a medical examination for $30 or teeth cleaning for $25.

During Walmart’s annual Investor Community Meeting in February, president and chief executive officer Doug McMillon acknowledged that health care is a beckoning opportunity for the world’s largest retailer.

“Given our large pharmacy and optical businesses and our experience with flu shots and other in-store health events, we have something to build on,” he said. “It’s another omnichannel opportunity that takes advantage of big boxes and big parking lots, close to people.”

McMillon added that response to the initial two clinics in Georgia showed that customers welcome Walmart’s entry into the realm of health care services.

“I don’t want to get too far over my skis here, because we’re just getting started and we have a lot to learn and do, but after spending time in both of these health clinics, I think there’s something here,” he said.

McMillon pointed out that the health care professionals, including the physicians who operate the centers, like the incentive structure they work under, which rewards them for caring for patients, not referring them to specialists they may not need. Their Net Promoter Scores (NPS) related to “felt cared for” were in the mid-90s, he added.

“We’re learning how to equip these clinics with the right people,” he elaborated. “We’ll learn how to support them with the right technology. We’ll try various pricing structures. We’ll be experimenting with the size and layout, and we’ll be exploring opportunities to add digital capabilities that extend outside of the clinics and e-commerce to round out the experience.”