Newsletter

Annual Appeal Letter

An Open Letter to the Friends and Supporters of the Open Door Clinic:

Last year, we broke two records. We served more patients than ever before -- an additional 51% over the prior year. We also received more donated hours of professional care from doctors, nurses, physical therapists, chiropractors, AIDS counselors and others than we have ever received before.

We’re on track to break both of these utilization records in 2009. As more Addison County and Brandon area Vermonters lose their jobs, or have insurance benefits reduced or eliminated, more and more are coming to us for assistance. Without your generous continued local support, we will not be able to meet this growing demand.

Thanks to you, we were able to meet the growing need in 2008. We received more financial support from individual donors than we have ever received before. That success allowed us to take two steps that we believe are crucial to serving our community – we hired a second Nurse Case Manager and, with the generous support of the wonderful physicians and staff at Little City Family Health, we opened an evening clinic at the Little City office in Vergennes, which is open two times per month.

The Open Door Clinic also has continued to serve as the role model for other clinics around Vermont in serving the many hardworking laborers on Vermont farms – and many farmer/owners as well. In recognition of the work that the Open Door Clinic has done, we were encouraged by the Bi-State Primary Care Association to apply for a grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services to improve health care services to migrant farmworkers across Vermont. We have just been notified that we have been awarded the grant! These federal funds will provide for collaboration with colleagues in other counties and will also allow us to improve the services we provide to farmworkers in our own county, where so many work and live.

However, even with this exciting news and the infusion of these new grant dollars, we are facing a substantial budget deficit given the unparalleled need we are committed to meeting. We hope you can help us meet this need through your generosity and gift to the Open Door Clinic.

Gratefully,

James Dumont, Esq.

Chairman

Community Health Services of Addison County

Meet Our Medical Director:

Scott D. Smith, MD is a physician at Cedar Ledge Family Practice, and an active member of the Porter Hospital Medical Staff in Middlebury Vermont. Dr. Smith did his undergraduate work at Ursinus College, Pennsylvania (BA in Biology and Secondary Education, 1986). His medical degree is from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia (1990). After a residency in family practice in York Pennsylvania, he worked at Navajo Health Foundation, Sage Memorial Hospital in Ganado, Arizona (1993-1999). During his time on the reservation, he served as Director of the Outpatient Department, as Infection Control Chairman, and as Associate Medical Director.
Dr. Smith now volunteers at the Open Door Clinic in Middlebury as the Medical Director and primary care physician. He is also the Medical Advisor to the Middlebury Fire Department. Dr. Smith does a tremendous job of recruiting volunteer primary health care providers for the clinic. Through his steady leadership, the Open Door Clinic has expanded outreach programs and is in the process of increasing hours that the clinic is open. His interests include skiing, backpacking, rural and cross-cultural medicine, woodworking, cycling and camping.

Staff Member Profile

Lauren Young, RN is our new Case Manager and Clinic Outreach Specialist who joined the Open Door Clinic in September of 2008. In this short period of time Lauren has had a tremendous impact on our ability to offer health access to uninsured and underinsured individuals in Addison County. Lauren is in charge of all of our outreach efforts to the community. She manages and runs the migrant worker clinics that we offer at various locations. Lauren is also the case manager for our NEW Vergennes clinic and without her the clinic would have never come to fruition. She is also a family nurse practitioner student at the University of Vermont. We are very fortunate to have Lauren as a member of our team.

Core Values of All ODC Staff:

The staff of the ODC strive for excellence in all aspects of care and service we provide to the community. We strive to adhere to the following core values:

The Board of Directors, staff, and patients would like to thank Mr. Reginald Spooner and Mrs. Carol Spooner. Both were recognized as "Volunteers of the Year" at the annual Open Door Clinic Volunteer Recognition Ceremony, held on April 26, 2008.

All of the volunteers give ethusiastically of their free time and expertise to the Open Door Clinic. In the mission of providing access to health care to our community, each volunteer is exemplary in their commitment and dedication to the effort. It was difficult to decide who should receive this prestigious award with so many worthy volunteers to consider. The Spooner's provide transportation to many of the patients who do not have a ride to the clinic. They help in our fundraising efforts. They are wonderful ambassadors for the Open Door Clinic. Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Spooner and all of our volunteers for all that you do!

Open Door Clinic, Middlebury, VT 05753

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