Our History
Meeting the Need for Convenient Healthcare
The need for convenient, walk-in medical care is something everyone faces. When Rick Krieger experienced that need first-hand, it got him thinking about a retail health care center that would become MinuteClinic.
On a wintry weekend in 1999, he took his sick son to an urgent care center in Minneapolis. The boy needed a strep throat test and, after a two-hour wait, finally got one. After that, he knew there had to be a quicker, more convenient way.
Brainstorm: Quick, Convenient, Affordable
A year later, QuickMedx was founded. The first QuickMedx centers opened in Minneapolis-St. Paul area Cub Foods stores in May 2000. They focused on seven common medical conditions: Strep throat, mono, flu, female bladder infections, ear infections, sinus infections and pregnancy testing. Patients paid cash – and much less than at urgent care, emergency or other health care centers.
The demand for walk-in convenience led to quick growth, with several large employers asking their health plans to include QuickMedx in their networks. With the addition of insurance coverage and a few other improvements, QuickMedx became MinuteClinic in December 2002.
Convenience Leads to Expansion
The business took off and MinuteClinic added centers at several Target stores, as well as at corporate office locations in the Twin Cities. In August 2004, the company expanded its operations to Target stores in the Baltimore area.
Less than a year later, MinuteClinic opened its first walk-in medical clinics in CVS/pharmacy stores in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Baltimore. This led to a national expansion in CVS/pharmacy locations with MinuteClinics opening in Nashville, Indianapolis, Raleigh-Durham and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Now there are more than 500 MinuteClinic locations in 26 states. With more than 7 million patient visits, our surveys reveal a 95 percent customer satisfaction rating. MinuteClinic has helped individuals, employers and health insurance companies reduce the costs of health care.
We hope to have a MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinic near you soon.
Check Locations to see if we’re in your neighborhood yet.
