Oak Street Health, a network of value-based primary care centers for adults on Medicare, is expanding its base of medical centers to include Little Rock, Ark., Kansas City, Kansas, Richmond, Va., and Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa; beginning this summer. The expansion into these four new states will mark the 25th state in which Oak Street Health serves older adults.
Founded in 2012, Oak Street employs approximately 600 primary care providers and currently has more than 170 medical centers across 21 states. On February 8, 2023, CVS Health entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Oak Street Health in an all-cash transaction for $39 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $10.6 billion.
Oak Street said it would also continue to expand into new communities within states where it has an existing presence with additional centers planned for Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania this year.
“One of the most critical ways we advance our mission to rebuild healthcare as it should be is by bringing our high-quality primary care and unmatched patient experience to more older adults across the country,” said Mike Pykosz, CEO of Oak Street Health, in a statement. “We look forward to meeting and caring for new deserving patients in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and Virginia, as well as the opportunity to create meaningful jobs for those passionate about improving health outcomes for patients and bridging health equity gaps in their communities.”
Oak Street’s integrated model incorporates behavioral healthcare and social determinants support and involves a mix of in-center, in-home and telehealth appointments, as well as a 24⁄7 patient support line.
In March 2023, Oak Street and Interwell Health, a kidney care management company, launched a joint venture that will offer primary care to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients directly in the dialysis center.
The companies said this approach to primary care for ESKD patients aims to reduce hospitalizations, increase kidney transplantations, and improve outcomes to lower the total cost of care.
The new joint venture, called OakWell, will bring the type of coordinated primary care that dialysis patients need directly to them, the companies said, offering appropriate interventions in the center while still working in close partnership with nephrologists. This will remove the barrier of attending additional, separate medical appointments and help address issues of health equity.
OakWell will initially begin offering care services in Chicago, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth dialysis centers in the third quarter of 2023.
