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“This is a charitable clinic, but... we want it to look like any other clinic in the USA,” says Dr Rashid Chotani, executive director of the Muslim Community Center (MCC) Medical Clinic in Silver Springs, Maryland — close to the US capital, Washington DC.
Much like other clinics in the US, the MCC Medical Clinic is well equipped with state-of-the-art medical services, putting it at par with its counterparts. But it is also quite evidently entirely unique.
Out in the lobby, patients from diverse ethnic backgrounds are seated, speaking in different languages. Amidst them are patients who do not speak any English at all. Not only does MCC clinic make a clear effort not to discriminate, they go a step further. The clinic's staffers from around the world try to communicate with these patients in their native languages.
“We have a lot of people from the continent of Africa, we also have people who speak Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Spanish, French, you name it,” says a visibly proud Dr Chotani.
For Ms. Lori Indenbaum, a PA and internist, the clinic is a “medical home” and the diversity makes everyone feel welcome.
The most interesting thing about this clinic is that it is based in a mosque. Yet, 50 per cent of the patients here are from other faiths. “We serve the entire community, not the Muslim community alone,” Dr Chotani tells Dawn.
Dr Chotani speaks highly of how his colleague Dr Asif Qadri set up the clinic.
Fourteen years ago, Dr Qadri went to the MCC board of directors with the idea of opening a free clinic for those in the community who could not afford healthcare and did not have insurance to cover those costs.
Before he could even start it, many people began “advising” him that it would not work.
However, the board agreed and gave space within the centre for him to commence his work. In 2003, Dr Qadri officially opened the clinic. Initially it was run on a volunteer basis and opened only one day a week. In that entire year, the clinic saw 53 patients.
Today the clinic has evolved and grown, and is expected to see as many as 17,000 patients in one year. It’s open seven days a week, eight hours a day, and has expanded so much that it has doctors and facilities for all sorts of treatment any patient may need.
Dr Chotani stresses the need to give back to the community. Acting on this conviction, after attending medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he went back to Pakistan to help his father and some of his colleagues who had been part of an organisation called Kharadar General Hospital.
To further his education, he then travelled back to the US and joined the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Spending time around the world, he saw expat Pakistanis who had done really well for themselves, but were doing nothing to give back. “Pakistanis who are living across the globe, or even in Pakistan, have done really well financially. You go to their homes… you see their cars they have beautiful cars… but what have they done for the community and the country they are living in?” he asks.
Refusing to fall into the trap, Dr Chotani left his corporate position and joined the MCC clinic. He remembers thinking “somehow things will work out”. “I took this position to build this clinic so that we become a shining example. Now we are the largest faith-based multi-speciality safety net clinic in the USA... People have to come to the mosque to come and see us; they know it's a Muslim setup, they know there are Pakistanis who are running it, we don't have to say anything, we just need to provide care for them,” he adds.
“One of the things we have been doing since 9/11 is trying to build bridges and trying to create an environment where we are integrated, [while] at the same time keeping our roots and values alive. So in order for us to do that… we have to engage with the community,” he says.
These efforts of Dr Chotani were recognised in a big way last year. He made headlines when he was selected for the Nato “Scientific Achievement Award 2016”. Dr Chotani was specifically awarded for his role in researching medical countermeasures against biological agents.
“It was extremely interesting, rewarding and humbling experience because I never expected it to be honest,” says the honouree. “The timing was just perfect, everybody was talking about Muslims and Pakistanis being terrorists... Now this award is specifically given to someone who has done tremendous service in counterterrorism. So here was a Muslim, being awarded as a counter terrorist expert rather than a terrorist,” says Dr Chotani of shifting the narrative, adding, “it was really fantastic from all different perspectives.”
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the MCC Medical Clinic is located in Silver Springs, Maryland and not in Washington DC itself.
Comments (47) Closed
THAT'S THE WAY YOU DO IT!
Bring the diverse communities together and serve the humanity.
Keep it up!
Great Job Doctor Sahib, and hope people back in Pakistan should set up one clinic like this back home too...
Thank God it treats patients of all the faiths otherwise it won't be in Washington.
Great job! The good news is that this is not the only mosque in the US that provides this type of service. Various mosques in different states/cities have been providing similar services, throughout the USA.
good job!
Dear Dr ,Congrats doing great job. I want to join you as volunteer as anesthesiologist.
Commendable , keep it up .
Why would anyone in America go to s mosque for medical treatment?
@Udayan Mitra You don't go into the mosque itself, it has a separate entrance. Also there are lot's of poor people, even in USA, who get free treatment.
@Udayan Mitra in the community who could not afford healthcare and did not have insurance to cover those costs.
Doctor sahib great work, for mitra sahib you should read "annihilation of caste"
@Udayan Mitra, In the USA medical care is very expensive and people who cannot afford treatment will find it convenient and competent place in a Muslim Community Center to go to. 17,500 people find it necessary every year to go there.
I have been affiliated with this mosque for the last 25 years and saw this clinic sprout up as a very viable place to treat people. All of us are proud of this clinic.
Mashallah..
@Udayan Mitra Because unlike other clinics, here no patient is turned away if they don't have health insurance or money to pay.
Would be interesting to know how the doctors in such clinics kept their malpractice insurance. Many free clinics had been shutdown since the 1980s when the insurance industry threatened to cancel or asked for increased premium of doctors' malpractice insurance if the they served pro bono.
Service to humanity ....... despite Trump.
@Udayan Mitra : People from other mosques and churches have visited the clinic to learn from it and provide medical services in their community. This clinic is a model for all to follow and the community is very proud of it, especially the volunteers who dedicate hours from their personal time.
APPNA ( Association of Physicians of Pakistani-descent of North America) operates several clinics and has done so for years. Additionally it holds a national health care day each year where in many US States and US cities Pakistani origin doctors open their clinics and provide screening for common diseases. These clinics and events are open to all irrespective of religion, race, gender, national origin. The Westmont Illinois operates right in the headquarters of APPNA.
Excellent job, Sir. Wish you best of luck in future.
Dr.Muhammad Munir , a humble human being and a physician with vast experience practices at MCC. It is with personal sacrifice of doctors like Dr. Rashid Chotani, Dr.Munir and others that MCC has become a beacon of affordable healthcare in the heart of America. Every time I visit MCC, seeing the scenes fill me with pride as an American Muslim.
@Mehwish Yazdani Some states do have Good Samaritan laws which apply in emergency situations. Insurance market is dependent on the claims experience and exposure. Without malpractice insurance coverage it would be financially dangerous not only to the individual doctor but also to the owner of the clinic whether it is a church, mosque, temple or synagogue. Whether a plaintiff succeeds in prevailing in a court of law will depend on the damage suffered and the malpractice that is alleged. Juries may or may not be sympathetic to the clinic or the plaintiff.
I know doctors in Milwaukee, WI run a free hospital in Okara, Pakistan and send millions of dollars donations to many hospitals in Pakistan. Some of these doctors work in hospitals from Monday thru Friday and run free clinics on weekends for the people who don't have insurance. This is the Muslim way to help people who need help regardless of faith.
Congratulations Br. Chotani. The reward is from The Creator. May He bless you, your family and all the staff. May He make you the inspiration of 'love thy neighbor' to other Muslim physicians. APNA needs to emulate your example.
@Udayan Mitra Wouldn't you for free of cost/subsidized treatment?
@Udayan Mitra, in the US, many patients cannot afford medical care as insurance costs are too high. Hence, free treatment is a blessing and that is why people go.
@UDAYAN MITRA - As an American, i can tell you that people would go to a mosque for getting free medical care because the costs are generally outside the reach of an average American. The only exception is an emergency - where you will get world class treatment (without any upfront costs) but will end up in debt for the rest of your life. That's why someone would go to a Mosque for treatment.
A clinic/hospital always treats pateints of all faiths, if there is an exception, I would like to know
keep up the good work Dr. chotani. Serving humanity is serving Almighty. God Bless. Saghir from Toms River.
@namesake this is free community clinic not a business clinic.
@Faisal Thanks for your kind words.
@khan Thanks Faisal. There are a lot of such services in Pakistan. In Karachi the Kharadar Hospital where my late father Dr. AR CHOTANI and I worked continues to provide care for the needy.
@SATT we believe in humanity and kindness to all as our beloved prophet (PBUH) practiced. Thanks for your kind comment.
@Syed indeed all across the US such services are provided at mosques as well as by other Pakistani and Muslim organizations.
@Najma Hisham Thanks
@Syed Abdullah great - please contact me at the Clinic.
@Rakesh Thanks
@Udayan Mitra as someone has already commented, the Clinic has a separate entrance. The Muslim Community Center is a large complex with a Mosque.
@M. Siddique thanks for the continuous support. We are now bringing more services such as stress echo and pulmonary function tests.
@ukasha Thanks for your kind words of encouragement. We have been asked by a neighboring Gorwar to open a satellite clinic in their complex. The great thing about healthcare is it does not look at race, gender or faith - everyone needs it. Our job as healthcare providers is to heal the body without bias.
@Mohammad Waseem Shukria Janab
@Mehwish Yazdani all are providers are covered. I make sure that we have all necessary insurances.
@Dawn we should create tangible examples so folks change their opinions.
@Da Man we are fortunate that the founders of the clinic had foresight and vision to create such an entity and we have learned and modified our healthcare model over the years. We are constantly working to improve our model.
@ From USA S.A.Hyder, Ph.D. Thanks - we will keep on working
@saghir Thanks Haque Sahib. Keep us in your prayers.
Actually this Muslim medical clinic is in the best position in USA to take advantage of the right-wing Republican lapse in heath care services--as you see in the effort to replace the Affordable Care Act. Many inroads available here to manage perceptions and create a new reality of Muslims providing care for others outside of their own community.