Additional space allows for prenatal care, ultrasound imaging, adoption classes, nutrition, and more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2019

MANASSAS, Va. – Catholic Charities Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic in Manassas, Virginia, has expanded into a building next door to the original space – doubling its size from 1,980 square feet to 3,960 square feet. The new space allows the clinic to offer additional services including prenatal care for women and ultrasound imaging - thanks to an ultrasound machine donated by the Knights of Columbus. Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge, Bishop of Arlington, will bless the ultrasound machine and the additional space on Monday, January 14.

Details

When:           Monday, January 14, 10-11:30 am
Where:         Mother of Mercy Free Clinic, 9380 Forestwood Lane, Suite B, Manassas

“This additional space allows Catholic Charities to serve the whole person just as our faith calls us to do,” says Art Bennett, President and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington. 

About

The clinic serves adults living in low-income households without insurance in Manassas and Manassas Park.  The buildings are owned by the BVM Foundation (for Blessed Virgin Mary), and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington (CCDA) is the lessee. CCDA opened the clinic in December of 2017. 

Unexpected Demand Shows Need for Expansion 

“The first day we opened the clinic on December 6, 2017, we saw 18 patients, and we were staffed with a medical director, a nurse practitioner, three to four nursing volunteers and about six to seven receptionists and interpreters,” says Alexandra Luevano, Director of the Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic. Currently, the clinic averages 65-70 patients a week, has 560 patients and 209 registered volunteers, including five primary care physicians, four nurse practitioners, two cardiologists, an obstetrician, a pulmonologist, an orthopedic doctor, a chiropractor, a pharmacist, two physical therapists, a respiratory therapist, a phlebotomist, a dietician, 43 registered nurses, four licensed practical nurses, and eight medical assistants.

The clinic opened with a waiting room, four exam rooms and other offices and was open four hours a week, but it now is open four days a week, offering different services each day, and has increased the exam rooms from four to five.

In addition, the clinic now offers diabetic, prediabetic, nutrition, exercise and gluten free classes. It is also in the process of having volunteers trained for the Diabetes Self-Management Program developed by Stanford University to help patients manage their diabetes, which Luevano says is the number one condition treated at the clinic.

Expansion

The additional building will allow a dedicated space for prayer, physical therapy, chiropractic and additional classes, such as hypertension, natural family planning, prenatal, and parenting classes. It will also be stocked with an emergency food supply and a baby closet. Due to the increase in volume of women seeking prenatal care, Catholic Charities will start prenatal care at the clinic January 8, 2019. The space will also have an ultrasound machine, thanks to the joint efforts of the local Fr. Veger Council 5561 of the Knights of Columbus, serving at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Warrenton, and the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus, based in New Haven, Connecticut.  It will be the 1,000^thultrasound machine the organization has given away in 10 years. 

Additionally, Catholic Charities will provide mental health counseling, and pregnancy and adoption services in the expanded clinic.

How the clinic came to be

A group of parishioners from All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Gainesville participated in a pro-life ministry in which they would reach out to mothers and couples who approached a Manassas abortion clinic. This group also reached out to the staff at the abortion clinic in the hopes of fostering productive and respectful dialogue.

After the owner of the clinic passed away, the owner’s wife, who assumed ownership and control of the clinic’s operation, agreed to shut the clinic down and sell to a group of investors called the BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary) Foundation. The BVM Foundation approached Catholic Charities about how the former abortion clinic could be changed to serve a noble and redemptive purpose. Catholic Charities agreed to open a free clinic to serve the uninsured and underinsured in the Manassas area and has embarked on this mission to prolong life and to promote the dignity of the human person.