Founded in 2003, Muslim Community Center Medical Clinic (MCC) began participating in Montgomery Cares in FY2007. Its mission “is to provide compassionate and high quality medical care to uninsured, indigent adult residents of our community regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or national origin.” Its faith-based community of origin, Muslim Community Center, supports health services for patients eighteen and up, not only through general clinic infrastructure but through individual patient financial assistance.
That assistance is particularly important given the health center’s patient demographics: 81% of patients in FY26 had household incomes at or below the federal poverty line—a level well below the income actually required to live in Montgomery County. The clinic has a diverse patient population, with 62% of patients reporting their racial/ethnic identity as Black or African American in FY26, 19% Hispanic, 13% Asian, 10% White, and 15% Other/Multiracial/Unknown. Patient countries of origin include Ethiopia, El Salvador, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Gambia, Peru, and Senegal. With a largely immigrant patient population, MCC has seen “challenges related to the changing politically climate both domestically and internationally,” explain Dr. Azad Ejaz, the clinic executive director, but the clinic saw a significant increase in patients during the last quarter of FY26.
Staff can offer language support in Amharic, Arabic, Bangla, Kashmiri, Punjabi, and Spanish, with additional languages possible via the Montgomery County Language Bank. Overall patient numbers have grown in FY26, with MCC serving 2,437 patients (9.6% of MCares participants) in 7,149 encounters during FY26, up from 2,113 patients in 5,557 encounters during FY25. Additional support services are also available to facilitate care. “MCC Medical Clinic, through a partnership with LabCorp of America, offers 100% free lab testing services to all eligible MCare patients,” explains Dr. Ejaz. “The clinic also provides free shuttle service to and from the clinic and major bus and Metro rail terminals. In addition, through a partnership with Montgomery County's ChowMatch food distribution system, the clinic provides free food to patients.”
In addition to primary care, MCC offers on-site vision, dental, gynecology, and physical/massage therapy services. Physical and massage therapy services in particular have drawn new patients, according to Dr. Ejaz. The clinic partners with the Montgomery Cares Behavioral Health Program to provide counseling and a roster of volunteer providers for some specialty care. The range of providers available serve not only MCC patients but MCares patients referred from other health centers too.
Clinic operating hours include full-day availability Saturday and Sunday, offering an important weekend care option for the community. “And yes,” Dr. Ejaz says, “hot gourmet coffee is always available for the patients.”