WOONSOCKET, R.I. — MinuteClinic has reached a service milestone, surpassing 25 million patient visits since opening the nation’s first retail clinic in 2000.

Parent company CVS Health said Tuesday that MinuteClinic is the nation’s largest and fastest-growing provider of retail health clinics, with nearly 1,000 clinics located inside CVS/pharmacy stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia.  MinuteClinic was acquired by CVS Corp. in 2006.

“We’ve seen MinuteClinic evolve from a limited service, treating just seven acute illnesses, to become a high-quality health care provider that now offers 65 services and vaccinations,” MinuteClinic president Andrew Sussman said in a statement. “As we look to the future, we will continue to expand our service offerings.”

This year, MinuteClinic plans to open more than 100 new locations and, by 2017, it expects to have over 1,500 walk-in medical clinics. And that growth will come in current markets and new areas, according to CVS. In the last nine months, MinuteClinic opened its first clinics in Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

“The need for more accessible and affordable health care services offered at retail clinics is greater than ever, as the medical profession addresses the primary care shortage, changes brought by health care reform and the needs of our aging population,” added Sussman, who’s also executive vice president and associate chief medical officer for CVS Health.

MinuteClinic and CVS Health also have clinical collaborations with more than 50 hospitals and health systems across the country. The affiliations foster coordination of care between health care providers, CVS pharmacists and MinuteClinic practitioners for patients seen at clinic locations. Also, MinuteClinic and participating health systems are integrating electronic health records to streamline and enhance communication so MinuteClinic visit summaries can be shared electronically with patients’ primary care doctors.