Our Story

Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires—locally known as VIM—is a health care center with a big heart. 

In 2003, a dedicated group of healthcare professionals, business people, and community volunteers created VIM in response to disturbing findings from a Harvard Medical School study on the number of uninsured adults in our community.

VIM was build on the understanding that health is primarily determined by living conditions such as housing, food, employment, and childcare—the broad definition of health care that allows VIM to restore our patients’ health, and give them hope for the future.

Our Care Center Today

Today, about 70 volunteer healthcare providers, 100 volunteer interpreters, drivers, and office workers, and a small paid staff treat roughly 1,300 patients in more than 6,500 patient visits a year. Some patients are treated for a brief period and then become enrolled in a community health program. But for hundreds of others, VIM is their medical home.

We’ve continued to refine our health care model to seamlessly integrate several elements that allow us to take care of our patients:

  • Patient-centered philosophy

  • Multicultural, multilingual staff

  • A broad definition of healthcare that integrates the key factors that enable good health such as housing, food insecurity, employment and education

  • Strong care coordination and consistent follow up

  • Collaboration with other area healthcare providers and social service organizations

A Growing Need

While the state subsidizes health care for the majority of Berkshire County residents, three percent of the population—around 4,000 people—are uninsured, primarily because they are ineligible for government-assistance programs.

This is where VIM Berkshires comes in. Our vision is for every single person in our region to have the opportunity to achieve good health. We currently serve 1,300 patients, but out patient population increases by about 35% every year—that’s an expected 1,800 patients in 2023.

By treating this niche, VIM helps create a thriving Berkshires: reducing the strains on the greater health care system that arise when individuals have no primary care, only the emergency room, and empowering patients to be healthy, active members of the community.