VillageMD Builds Bigger Footprint in the Northeast, Expands Value-Based Care Vision

It certainly doesn’t rival its $8.9 billion purchase of Summit Health, but VillageMD’s recent acquisition of Connecticut-based Starling Physicians group and its 30 locations is still significant.

The primary care provider also offers a range of specialty services, including cardiology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, nephrology and geriatric care. Starling’s value-based care delivery model also fits well with Summit Health’s approach. With the two acquisitions, VillageMD, which is majority owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, is rapidly building significant operations in the Northeast region of the country and other markets.

Starling also shares VillageMD’s vision for supporting a physician-led model. Earlier this year, VillageMD CEO Tim Barry said he believes there’s a continuing recognition among physicians that there’s a better way to deliver care in a more integrated, connected and coordinated way.

The combination of Summit Health and Starling Physicians gives VillageMD more than 680 locations and 20,000 employees caring for 7 million patients across 26 states.

“It used to be that we would just talk about primary care doctors all the time,” Barry said in a January interview. “I think it’s starting to pick up at a bigger and bigger pace with other specialties.”