Medical care and convenience don’t usually go together. But the retail clinic aims to change that by doing away with long waits at the doctors’ office and complicated insurance requirements and forms, all while bringing better care to the uninsured and underserved. Housed in grocery stores and pharmacies, staffed with nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants, using new medical technology, and promising quick, low-cost care for minor ailments, retail clinics are gaining acceptance. They now number about 1,200, of which Southern California boasts 90, making our region one of the busier markets in the country. But critics argue that retail clinics need better regulation and a stronger presence in low-income neighborhoods, and still others suggest that they could be detrimental in instances where patients need more serious attention Zócalo invited Charles Ornstein of ProPublica; Cynthia Stamper Graff, President and CEO of Lindora, Inc.; Mary Kate Scott, a professor of health care business and consulting at USC; and Dev Gnanadev, chief medical officer at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center to discuss the retail clinic’s unique model of care and its implications for doctors, insurance companies, and consumers.