Mary’s Center

At first I was so excited to become a patient that is fully insured in such a way that the clinic could benefit from my receiving services and paying regular price. I am familiar with its charitable work so I was excited to support this.
Unfortunately the kind of response that I have received as a patient has been a little disappointing. Refills usually take about 4 days to get approved which is sometimes too long if you are rushed and need your medicine right away. They don’t fulfill them unless I elevate the request through repeated requests or even near threats to leave the clinic.
I really wish it was better than this because I love their mission but every patient is important, those who pay less and those who pay more. For this reason I cannot recommend this clinic to those who may have full insurance and can pick from other places.

Our family have had mixed, mostly positive experiences here. We probably had high expectations after five+ years of amazing care from NYC’s Institute for Family Health, a similar mixed-​income community clinic model. The bar is not quite so high at Mary’s Center, in our experience mostly due to issues of access, not care.
The clinic is frequently very busy. The front desk staff are helpful and seem to process walk-​ins into the waiting room queue in a timely fashion, but then it can be a slog. Part of the issue might be that appointment holders who are prompt (or early!) still feel like they’re being being processed the same as the walk-​ins.
It can take a long time to get through to someone on the phone. Even mundanities like canceling appointments or requesting records (and why exactly can’t children have a portal login so we don’t have to waste the time of staff to get their records?) result in EPIC wait times. IF you can get someone on the phone. I’ve had appointment calls drop me into voicemail, with NO other choice. Big thumbs down.
Our general adult care has been good so far although we’ve just had routine check-​ups. My wife wasn’t wowed by the nurse practitioner she was assigned for her intake visit. Ironically, for a clinic that promotes maternal health, she will probably look elsewhere for OB-​GYN care.
When I tried to get a daily prescription refilled, the drug store said they received no response to several days of faxes and phone calls. As it turned out, my assigned primary care doctor quit (within my first three months going there!) and that left my Rx in limbo. No one decided to lift a finger to do anything about it, not even a courtesy refill. (We’re talking about a thyroid pill I’ve been taking daily for a decade, not some controlled substance.) Perhaps that’s the lack of attention to detail some of the other reviewers are referring to.
Our son’s first well-​baby visit went well; we didn’t feel rushed at all — his pediatrician was sharp and had great kid communication skills. (I sure hope she’s still there next year.)
Sidebar: I am disappointed that Unilocal has now apparently censored Heather M.‘s review. It’s bull**** that a 23-​review Unilocaler observing the socioeconomic makeup of a healthcare clinic somehow violates TOS. I would much prefer to be able to read what she said and then agree or disagree. Or did Unilocal miss the position paper about the benefits of free speech über alles from ALEC’s legal thugs?

I thought the front desk staff was very helpful and so were all the nurses that assisted us. We saw Dr. Rollins today and I thought she was highly professional and patient. She gave us a lot of face time and didn’t rush us at all.
We had an appointment and we were very early. I recommend being early. When we got there, there weren’t very many people waiting with us. The front desk people did intake and got all our info. Then we were even seen 20 minutes before our scheduled appointment with the doctor. When we left the appointment, the waiting room was packed so be early!
Free two hour parking on the surrounding streets. It’s in a safe area of NW.
Your GPS will get you to Ontario but the entrance is on the corner of Kalorama.
Also in reference to other reviews: I don’t speak a lick of Spanish and I still felt comfortable with every staff person I met. I think those reviews are really racist.

I share my experience at this clinic which is in stark contrast to the review that «if you don’t have a medicaid card and speak spanish, the staff doesn’t know how to help you.» I am a patient at Mary’s Center and I am a white, middle class woman who is not pregnant and not on Medicaid. I found the care I received there to be some of the best I have ever had, even compared to the private facilities I have visited. The nurse practitioner I saw was caring and competent. She called me at home to follow up after my visit and I was able to get in easily for follow up appointments. I now visit the dental clinic where there is incredibly up-​to-​date equipment and care.
Yes, there were a number of Latino families in the waiting room during my initial visit, but it is all a matter of perspective — I found it comforting to be surrounded by families and a sense of community. In addition, while this clinic opened to serve the Latino community in Columbia Heights, it’s mission has expanded and grown over the years and serves people of all races and backgrounds — including me.

Excellent! The clinic has just been renovated and is beautiful. I take my daughters to the pediatricians there (they have 3). I was impressed with the wait time (less than 20 minutes) and with the front desk staff. I really liked the pediatrician that I saw and found them to be knowledgeable and attentive. I have private insurance but go there because it is close to our house. I would reccomend the clinic to anyone with children!

I visited this office as it was on my health insurance and close to my house… I had 2 visits — an annual OBGYN exam and another visit for a cough. I was not impressed with the front desk staff, and this is clearly a clinic for pregnant women (lots of noise, confusion, and waiting and waiting and waiting.) The doctors weren’t very helpful in diagnosing, but they were very generous in writing prescriptions and making referrals (their staff will help you make the appointment, if you want.)
Overall I was not impressed and will not go back, but if you are low-​income I think they may be able to help.