A year after Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care opened its first Maryland location in Silver Spring, officials gathered to celebrate the Center's anniversary.The Center was praised for providing critically-needed health care, education and social services to more than 2,000 residents in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.
“We feel very proud to commemorate our first anniversary at this location,” said Maria Gomez, Mary’s Center’s President and CEO. “The increased volume of residents from Montgomery County and Prince George’s County who are coming for services to our Center is a live testimony to the urgent need for broader health care reform in this country. As President Obama has said repeatedly, we Americans are desperate for health care reform. We need a system that will serve the millions of families who lack access to adequate health care and social services in this country.”
A year ago, Mary’s Center’s 3,600-square-foot primary care center, located at 8709 Flower Ave. in the Long Branch area of Silver Spring, became the first federally-qualified health care center in Montgomery County. The Flower Ave. center offers a full range of much-needed services to underserved communities in the region, regardless of ability to pay.
”Our Maryland facility extends Mary’s Center’s 20-year experience to residents in Maryland who desperately need quality and culturally-appropriate services,” says Dr. Mark Fracasso, Mary’s Center’s Vice President of Medicine. “We’ve also established vital partnerships with Montgomery County agencies and local organizations, as well as with the Washington Adventist Hospital. These alliances have enabled us to meet the most urgent needs of our clients.”
The Maryland heath center has a multidisciplinary health-care team providing women's services, including obstetrical and gynecological care, as well as pediatric, adolescent, and adult health services. The center also offers a broad range of social services, counseling, and health education programs to its clients.
"Mary's Center has been a wonderful safety net for our most vulnerable residents in Montgomery County,” said Uma Ahluwalia, Director of Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services. “We look forward to continuing this partnership in addressing health care and the need for social services that produce positive health outcomes for our residents in the Long Branch community and the county at large."
The one-year anniversary featured numerous local and state lawmakers, public health officials, and other supporters of Mary’s Center.
