DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings Co. (LabCorp) have formed a partnership in which LabCorp will develop and operate patient service centers within selected Walgreens stores.

The centers, co-branded as “LabCorp at Walgreens,” will offer LabCorp patient services for specimen collection, located near the pharmacy area inside the stores, the companies said in June in a joint statement.

Tests on specimens collected at the Walgreens stores will be performed through LabCorp’s nationwide network of primary and specialty laboratories.

Seven LabCorp at Walgreens locations will begin seeing patients in 2017. Six of the centers were scheduled to open this summer: five in Denver and one in Morrisville, N.C. A Deerfield, Ill., location is planned for later this year.

The collaboration reflects Walgreens’ and LabCorp’s shared objective of providing a differentiated patient experience and enabling consumers to conveniently access a broader range of health care services. Walgreens and LabCorp said they intend to explore additional ways to jointly enhance patient care.

For Walgreens, making lab testing available at its retail locations complements the services offered through its pharmacy and Healthcare Clinics. The LabCorp relationship further demonstrates the value of deeper collaborations with health care service providers in improving care coordination and providing benefit, care and service for patients and payers, the company said.

“This agreement brings together Walgreens’ trusted pharmacy and community health care services with LabCorp’s long-standing reputation for innovation and quality in diagnostic laboratory testing,” said Alex Gourlay, co-chief operating officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

“We look forward to bringing affordable and accessible health care to the communities we serve.”

The LabCorp at Walgreens initiative represents a step in LabCorp’s continuing enhancement of the customer experience and delivery of high-quality, cost-effective laboratory testing, the company said. With headquarters in Burlington, N.C., LabCorp has some 1,750 patient service centers providing access to the company’s menu of 4,800 tests, including offerings in such areas as women’s health, genomics, oncology and companion diagnostics.