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| The reception desk at the Bailey's Health Clinic. |
The new facility will be larger and nicer, but harder to access for the clinic’s clients who live in the Seven Corners area. There is Metrobus service (Route 1A) between the Willston area and the new location but a bus ride would take nearly 40 minutes.
“We understand the move may create some difficulties for folks who live right in that area. We’re doing our best to get information about the move out to our clients so they will be able to arrange transportation,” says Health Department spokesperson John Silcox.
The Bailey’s Health Clinic will close at noon on Nov. 19 and will reopen on the fourth floor of the Merrifield Center at 10 a.m. on Nov. 24. The clinic’s lease was set to expire at the end of October, although it did get a three-month extension. It’s been at the Willston Shopping Center for 25 years.
The clinic provides primary care for low-income residents of Fairfax County and Falls Church who don’t have health insurance. It offers such services as vaccinations, blood pressure checks, treatments for non-emergency concerns such as sore throats and back pain, and assistance with some mental health issues, says Peggy Melton, a nurse at the Bailey’s clinic.
It’s one of three clinics in the Fairfax County Health Department’s Community Health Care Network (CHCN). The Bailey’s clinic, officially known as CHCN-Bailey’s will be renamed CHCN-Merrifield. The other two are in Reston and the Route 1 corridor in Alexandria. Fairfax County has a contract with a private company, Molina Health Care Inc., to operate the clinics.
The clinic will have more space in the Merrifield Center and will be co-located with other health programs. “We hope to better integrate health care with mental health services and dental care,” says CHCN Director Arsenio de Guzman.
Having the clinic in the same building as other services and on the Inova campus makes it easier for staff to coordinate services, Silcox added. It’s not clear how referrals will be handled, however, and having services co-located doesn’t mean clients will get all their needs met in one visit.
The Merrifield Center opened in January 2015. It houses a variety of mental health, substance abuse, and other health-related programs operated by Fairfax County and the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board.
After the move, the clinic will maintain the same schedule: 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.