PHOTOS: New Children's National Prince George's County medical facility opening Wednesday

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (ABC7) — Jamette Blanchard’s son Darius Carter will be among the first patients seen at the new Children’s National Prince George’s County. He was long cared for by Children’s National in D.C. and Darius knows well what this facility will mean to him. “It’s nice because it helps kids,” he says quietly.

Specifically, it will help kids in this community. Something Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks says has been missing from the county. “We see it during COVID,” Alsobrooks says, “ The need for it. That we want to care for our residents right here in Prince George’s County.”

The new facility in the Woodmore Town Center near the Wegmans and Costco stores will provide a full range of diagnostics and outpatient surgery in a gleaming new building. It opens Wednesday filling a void which Alsobrooks says can’t be overstated. “Not having those primary care physicians here and easily accessible not having healthy food has killed us. In many instances made us sick and some instances cost us our lives,” she says.

For Jamette Blanchard, it means Darius will once again be getting the care he needs from Children’s National. Something she says she could no longer provide. “The one in D.C. that’s the one we were going to but I stopped taking him because it’s too far. It’s closer to home, I know that. It’s better than going all the way to Washington D.C. I live up the street.”