Proyecto Salud Clinic opens on MGH campus

Facility designed to treat county adults without health insurance

The clinic opened with the help of Montgomery Cares, a program that provides primary health care to uninsured, low-income adult residents and is funded in part by the county government to help support a network of independent, nonprofit clinics.

‘‘There is not necessarily a need for this in the Olney community, but in the county in general,” Montgomery General Hospital spokeswoman Nikki Yeager said. ‘‘The CEOs of county hospitals worked with the county to determine the best location to make it accessible to the most county residents.”

Under the terms of the three-year agreement, Montgomery General will provide free office space to Proyecto Salud and funding for start-up operations.

‘‘We believe in making sure people have access to care regardless of their ability to pay,” MGH President Peter Monge said. ‘‘The area is changing. More and more people are finding themselves uninsured, so we felt it was appropriate to help them and get involved.”

The clinic’s services focus on primary adult health care, including physical examinations, health counseling and education, and basic laboratory services. The clinic will also offer a seasonal influenza clinic focused on prevention with vaccinations.

Services are provided on a sliding pay scale, and prescription medications are available to patients through Montgomery Cares. The clinic will also provide referrals for specialty services.

An estimated 90 percent of Proyecto Salud Clinic patients are members of the Hispanic community, but the clinic is open to all residents of Montgomery County that meet the criteria, officials reported. In addition to English and Spanish, staff members speak French and Mandarin.

Dr. Cesar Palacios, executive director of Proyecto Salud Clinic, said the most common conditions treated at the facility are chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.

Proyecto Salud in Olney was established to not only to provide health care services for residents without health insurance, it was also designed to combat long hospital emergency room wait times that result from residents using hospitals for primary care services, hospital officials reported.