[naviga:h3]Walgreens dives into primary care with expansion[/naviga:h3]

Walgreens will squeeze primary care clinics into as many as 700 of its U.S. stores over the next few years in a major expansion of the care it offers customers.

The drugstore chain said Wednesday that it will partner with VillageMD to set up doctor-led clinics that also use nurses, social workers and therapists to provide regular treatment for patients.

The retailer will redesign stores that get the clinics, narrow their shelves and pull products like tobacco and other grocery items to make room.

Drugstores like Walgreens and rival CVS Health Corp. typically tuck small clinics in the back of their stores to dole out flu shots or treat minor ailments like sinus infections or poison ivy. But Walgreens said last fall it was going to close nearly 40 percent of those clinics.

The company has been looking for a way to provide more comprehensive care, said executive Alex Gourlay.

“We are very confident that this is the right model for the future,” said Gourlay, Walgreens global co-chief operating officer.

He noted that the primary care clinics will make it easier for pharmacists to work with doctors to make sure medicines don’t conflict or to help explain prescriptions to patients.

The clinics will recruit doctors who already have patients and will focus on caring for those with chronic diseases. They will use social workers to make sure patients have stable food sources and living situations. The clinics also will lean on things like telemedicine to help stay in touch with patients.

[naviga:h3]United sending layoff notices to half of U.S. employees[/naviga:h3]

United Airlines is warning 36,000 employees - nearly half its U.S. staff - they could be furloughed in October, the clearest signal yet of how deeply the virus pandemic is hurting the airline industry.

The outlook for a recovery in air travel has dimmed in just the past two weeks, as infection rates rise in much of the U.S. and some states impose new quarantine requirements on travelers.

United officials said Wednesday that they still hope to limit the number of layoffs by offering early retirement benefits, and that 36,000 is a worst-case scenario. The notices going to employees this month are meant to comply with a 60-day warning ahead of mass job cuts.

The furloughs could include up to 15,000 flight attendants, 11,000 customer service and gate agents, 5,500 maintenance workers and 2,250 pilots.

“The United Airlines projected furlough numbers are a gut punch, but they are also the most honest assessment we’ve seen on the state of the industry,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. “This crisis dwarfs all others in aviation history, and there’s no end in sight.”

If United carries through on the notices, furloughs would take effect on or shortly after Oct. 1. United can’t lay off workers before then as a condition of the $5 billion it got as its share of $25 billion in federal aid to help airlines cover payroll costs.