Duane Reade Walk in Medical Clinic - Good or Bad Idea for Roosevelt Island?

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Sunday's Daily News reported on a the growing national trend, now coming to NYC, of walk-in medical clinics situated inside pharmacies and other retail store chains such as Duane Reade and CVS. According to the article:

Next month, at least two walk-in "retail clinics" are set to open inside Duane Reades in Brooklyn and Queens - and nearly 100 similar centers are in the pipeline across the city.
"We're definitely behind the curve compared to some parts of the country," said Adam Henick, an executive with Continuum Health Partners, which recently signed a deal to link the Duane Reade doctors with Beth Israel Medical Center and other hospitals in its network.

Those in favor of these local neighborhood medical clinics in a retail box say:

the clinics provide quick and easy medical attention, especially after-hours and on weekends, or without having to wait for an appointment or spend hours in a waiting room.
At Duane Reade, a basic visit for strep throat or other routine ailments costs $95, while advanced care for a sprain, burn or cut runs $199. Private medical insurance is accepted.
Controller William Thompson recently hailed the clinics as a way to increase access to medical care in poor neighborhoods, where a lack of doctors often forces people to rely on emergency rooms.

According to the NY Times, others including the American Medical Association, claim that

patients might be sacrificing quality for convenience or seeking help at drugstore clinics for problems that should be addressed by their doctors or a hospital, has proposed a series of guidelines, including a requirement that the clinics have a “well-defined and limited scope.” The association has also urged federal and state governments to investigate how the clinics operate.

Pediatrician groups have strongly opposed reliance on the clinics because of the importance of having doctors who are familiar with a child’s medical history.

Also, Duane Reade clinics function

as private medical practices that lease space from Duane Reade. Despite the name, doctors own the clinics, which have low overhead costs in a city where setting up a practice can be wildly prohibitive.

Doctors’ groups said they had fewer objections to doctor-run retail clinics, because the doctors are accountable to a state licensing board.

More from around the nation with Market Watch, ABC News, Houston Chronicle.

Here is a NPR radio interview.

Is this a good idea for Roosevelt Island? If the recently opened Roosevelt Island Duane Reade opens a clinic inside their premises here on Roosevelt Island would you try it out?

Video is from Truveo and boston.com.