(Washington, DC) – The District of Columbia Department of Behavioral Health is closing the pharmacy located in the urgent care clinic for adults at 35 K Street NE on Friday, April 3, 2026. The urgent care services will not be affected. Residents experiencing behavioral health challenges who need same day support can continue to walk in between 8:30 am and 3 pm and be seen by a clinician.

Closing the pharmacy will make room for the required relocation of the emergency care clinic operated by DBH due to ongoing redevelopment later this year.

The use of the pharmacy has dropped from 4,000 per year when it opened in 2009 to serve uninsured residents to about 1,100 over the past three years or about five individuals a day. With expanded Medicaid coverage, about 83% of residents using the pharmacy today have insurance which allows them to get prescriptions filled at any commercial pharmacy located near them.

Residents receiving behavioral health services from DBH-certified providers who are enrolling or reenrolling in Medicaid will continue to receive their medications free for a 45-day period while the applications are processed. In addition, everyone receiving urgent or emergency care at our government-operated clinics or in the emergency departments of a community hospital will get prescribed medication free. Prescriptions will be filled by Grubbs SE Pharmacy and Mini-Mart, 1800 Martin Luther King Avenue, SE.

Access to medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder previously available only at the 35 K Street pharmacy will be expanded to community health clinics in five locations:

Unity Health Care clinics

• Anacostia Health Center: 1500 Galen Street SE Washington, DC, 20020
• East of the River Health Center: 4414 Benning Road NE Washington, DC, 20019
• Parkside Health Center: 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE Washington, DC, 20019
• Upper Cardozo Health Center: 3020 14th Street NW Washington, DC, 20009

Mary’s Center

• Upper Cardozo Health Center: 3020 14th Street NW Washington, DC, 20009

For more information or questions, please contact Chaz Kohlrieser, MSW, Deputy Director, DBH Behavioral Health Services Division, at [email protected] or 202-579-2220.

 

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