How Pharmacies Are Turning Into Clinics — But Who Really Benefits?

Kenya has increasingly seen pharmacies move beyond selling medicines and into healthcare delivery, with consultation rooms, clinicians, testing and treatment services appearing inside retail outlets across the country.

What looks like a convenient solution to the country’s healthcare problems, however, raises a more difficult question: is Kenya expanding access to healthcare, or simply creating another market for private providers to profit from a struggling health system?

The pharmacy-clinic model allows patients to consult a clinician, undergo basic tests, receive treatment and collect medicines at the same location. For someone living far from a hospital, the arrangement can appear attractive.

But convenience comes at a price, and not every patient can afford to pay for it. The model risks creating a healthcare system where those who can afford quick private consultations get faster attention, while poorer patients remain dependent on overstretched public facilities.

Health economist Joshua Nyakundi argues that the model is changing where Kenyans first encounter the health system.

“The fastest way to reach a patient isn’t to build a new destination; it’s to set up in the places people already go,” he says.

The pharmacy as Kenya’s new healthcare battleground

Mr Nyakundi says having clinicians in pharmacies can reduce the financial and time costs associated with seeking treatment. Patients who might otherwise postpone care because of transport expenses, long queues or the need to take time away from work may be more willing to seek help when a healthcare professional is available nearby.

But the growing popularity of pharmacy clinics also exposes a deeper problem: why are patients increasingly looking outside traditional health facilities for basic medical services?

Kenya’s healthcare system is already under considerable pressure. The 2025 Economic Survey showed that public hospital bed capacity fell from 40,814 in 2023 to 38,552 in 2024, even as the country’s population continued to grow.

The country also faces a severe shortage and uneven distribution of doctors. The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council estimates that there is roughly one doctor for every 6,000 people, compared with the World Health Organisation’s recommended ratio of one doctor for every 1,000 people.

The situation is particularly difficult outside major towns. More than half of Kenya’s doctors practise in urban areas, while only about six per cent serve rural communities, leaving millions of people travelling long distances or waiting for hours for treatment.

It is this gap that private healthcare providers, insurers and pharmacy chains are increasingly moving to exploit.

The latest development came last Tuesday when TIBU Health expanded its network of Minute Clinics inside Goodlife Pharmacy branches.

TIBU says the strategy is designed to bring healthcare closer to patients instead of requiring them to travel to standalone clinics and hospitals.

“TIBU Health is committed to ensuring that patients receive timely, affordable, quality healthcare in convenient locations,” said TIBU Health chief executive Karl Daniel.

“Since many people first visit a pharmacy when they are unwell, partnering with Goodlife Pharmacy allows us to meet patients where they are.”

The company says the arrangement also eliminates the need for patients to travel from a clinic to a separate pharmacy after receiving treatment.

“This integration eliminates the necessity of travelling from a standalone clinic to a separate pharmacy, drastically reducing waiting times and improving patient compliance with prescribed treatments,” Daniel said.

TIBU’s Minute Clinics offer consultations for common illnesses, chronic disease management, vaccinations, health screening, laboratory sample collection and referrals for specialised treatment.

Patients can also be connected to doctors through telemedicine for consultations and follow-up care.

The company says consultation fees range from Sh500 to Sh850, depending on the country where it operates. It also says it has provided more than 45,000 diagnoses and administered over 2,500 vaccines.

But the cost raises an uncomfortable question.

For a Kenyan struggling with food, rent, transport and school fees, Sh500 is not necessarily an insignificant amount to spend on a consultation. Additional laboratory tests and medicines can push the final bill even higher.

The model may therefore remove the inconvenience of travelling to a hospital without necessarily removing the financial barrier to healthcare.

When healthcare becomes a commercial opportunity

TIBU’s expansion has attracted development finance. Last month, French development financier Proparco invested an undisclosed amount in the company to support its expansion.

TIBU announced that it became profitable in January 2025 following an operational restructuring.

Proparco deputy chief executive Djalal Khimedee said the model could expand access to healthcare, particularly for lower- and middle-income communities.

“By combining mini-clinics within pharmacies with a centralised medical hub, TIBU enables thousands of patients, particularly those in lower- and middle-income groups, to access essential, high-quality healthcare services,” Khimedee said.

But private expansion should not automatically be confused with healthcare progress.

When healthcare services are delivered through commercial outlets, there is a need to examine how financial incentives interact with clinical decisions.

A pharmacy is ultimately a retail business. Its traditional role is to sell medicines and other health products. Adding clinicians and diagnostic services changes that relationship, potentially making the pharmacy a one-stop healthcare business.

That is not inherently wrong, but it creates a need for strong oversight to ensure that patients are not pushed towards unnecessary tests, medicines or services simply because those services generate revenue.

The model also raises questions about whether private providers are filling temporary gaps or becoming a permanent substitute for public investment.

Old Mutual Health entered the space in 2023 through its Pharmacy First programme, launched in partnership with Halton Pharmacy and Goodlife Pharmacy.

The programme placed clinicians, nurses and pharmacists inside selected branches, allowing members to receive consultations and treatment under their medical coverage without paying additional consultation fees.

Technology firms have also moved into the sector.

Livia Health, which began in 2017 as an online medicine-ordering platform, has evolved into a pharmacy benefits management company connecting pharmacies, clinicians, laboratories, insurers and patients through its ExpressHub platform.

The company has established private consultation rooms across more than 400 partner pharmacies, supported by over 2,000 registered doctors.

Patients can consult clinicians, receive prescriptions, access diagnostic services and obtain referrals where specialised treatment is required.

Insurers including Old Mutual, Britam Health and Pacis Insurance use the platform to coordinate outpatient care.

Yet the pharmacy-clinic model existed before the latest wave of technology companies.

Malibu Pharmacy, which began as a stand-alone pharmacy on Nairobi’s Mfangano Street in the early 1990s, gradually introduced consultation services and medical counselling while establishing partnerships with insurers including AAR, Britam and First Assurance.

In 1997, Child and Family Wellness Shops pioneered one of Kenya’s early pharmacy-clinic models by combining licensed medicine outlets with basic clinical services in underserved communities where hospitals and health centres were scarce.

Now known as CFW Clinics and operated by the HealthStore Foundation, the network remains active, with nurse practitioners running outlets across the country.

The long history of the model shows that pharmacies have always had a role to play where formal healthcare has struggled to reach communities.

But that history also raises the bigger question facing Kenya today: why have the gaps remained so large?

If patients are going to pharmacies because public hospitals are too crowded, too far away or unable to provide timely primary care, adding more private clinics inside pharmacies may make the symptoms less visible without fixing the disease.

The country risks creating a two-tier system in which those who can afford convenience receive faster care, while those who cannot continue waiting in public facilities.

There is also the question of quality.

As clinical services spread across hundreds of commercial locations, regulators will have to ensure that standards of care, referral systems, staffing and patient safety remain consistent.

The pharmacy-clinic model may offer convenience, but convenience alone cannot be the measure of a functioning healthcare system.

Kenya’s challenge is not simply to put a clinician closer to the patient. It is to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible regardless of a patient’s income or location.

Until that happens, the growing number of clinics inside pharmacies may represent something more uncomfortable than innovation.

They may be evidence of how effectively private businesses are stepping into spaces where the public healthcare system has failed to keep up.