Publix expands to new turf: Hospitals

LAKELAND — With the opening of in-hospital Publix pharmacies at BayCare, the first piece of a three-part collaboration between Publix and BayCare Health System is in place.

Publix retail pharmacies are now open at St. Anthony's Hospital's Suncoast Medical Clinic in St. Petersburg, St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa and Morton Plant Hospital's new Doyle Tower in Clearwater. Publix pharmacies are also planned at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor and Winter Haven Hospital.

“Opening BayCare in-hospital pharmacies is part of the exciting collaboration we announced in March,” says Publix Vice President Fred Ottolino in a statement. “It isn't just about filling prescriptions as patients leave the hospital; it's about providing a continuum of convenient medical care.”

By the end of the year, all Publix stores in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk counties will feature BayCare HealthHubs, according to a press release. These self-service biometric screening stations provide individuals with free health information, including blood pressure, pulse, weight and body mass index. BayCare patients will be able to send the results directly to their physician from the HealthHub.

Within the next two years, approximately 25 walk-in telehealth clinics will open in Publix locations in the four-county area. Each telehealth site will provide non-urgent medical care through remote access to board-certified physicians. Patients will communicate with physicians in a private room featuring teleconferencing and medical diagnostic equipment.

Publix pharmacy services at BayCare include providing patients with bedside prescription delivery during hospital discharge, access to specialty medications and refills at any Publix pharmacy location.

“We are excited about this important step in providing seamless, connected care that improves health and care delivery,” BayCare Executive Vice President and COO Glenn Waters says in the statement. “Our care doesn't end when a patient leaves a BayCare hospital and neither should our medication management for our patients.”