WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic has formed a clinical affiliation with Parkridge Health System, a hospital and health care network in the Chattanooga, Tenn., area.

The CVS Caremark retail health clinic subsidiary said Wednesday that under the partnership, Parkridge Health System doctors will serve as medical directors for seven MinuteClinic walk-in medical clinics in CVS/pharmacy stores in Chattanooga, Hixson, Signal Mountain and Cleveland, Tenn., serving in Bradley, Hamilton and Marion counties. The Cleveland clinic location opened June 21.

Parkridge Health System, a division of HCA/TriStar, also will accept patients who need a level of care not provided by MinuteClinic, and MinuteClinic will inform patients about the affiliation with Parkridge Health System.

In addition, MinuteClinic and Parkridge Health System will collaborate on patient education and disease management initiatives and inform patients of the services each offer.

MinuteClinic added that it also has a clinical affiliation with TriStar Health for its clinics in Nashville and middle Tennessee.

"As we have experienced with TriStar Health in Nashville and in other communities in the U.S., strategic clinical affiliations between MinuteClinic and health systems such as Parkridge enhance our ability to extend high quality medical services to patients in convenient retail locations near where they live and work," MinuteClinic president Andrew Sussman, who’s also senior vice president and associate chief medical officer at CVS Caremark, said in a statement. "We look forward to having Parkridge Health System physicians collaborate with MinuteClinic nurse practitioners to provide quality oversight, teaching and backup so MinuteClinic can provide the best care at the lowest overall cost for patients and employers."

Parkridge Health System operates Parkridge Medical Center and Parkridge East Hospital as well as Parkridge Valley, a two-campus behavioral health facility. More than 600 physicians in the Chattanooga area are affiliated with Parkridge Health System.

"The alliance between Parkridge Health System and MinuteClinic provides patients in our area with a comprehensive continuum of care," stated Darrell Moore, president and chief executive officer of Chattanooga-based Parkridge Health System. "It ensures that individuals have access to the level of medical treatment appropriate for their condition."