THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE—Amid a growing need for free health care, Volunteers in Medicine to open Pittsfield center and expand its Great Barrington location
BY HEATHER BELLOW, THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE, JUNE 3, 2023
PITTSFIELD — At a joyous reception on Friday, a Great Barrington-based organization that provides free health care to the uninsured announced that it will open a new location to serve a growing need in the city and beyond.
Volunteers in Medicine, kicking off a $10 million fundraising campaign at the Berkshire Museum, signed a lease the same day at 199 South St. for a Pittsfield Care Center.
Construction has already begun, and the nonprofit plans to open there in the fall with additional space for education, tutoring and group meetings. VIM also will expand its Great Barrington office, given the increasing need for free medical, dental and other health-related services in South County.
The money — VIM already has raised $3 million — will also go toward the creation of a fund to sustain VIM’s work into the future.
Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires has earned a 2022 gold rating from the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics Quality Standards Program. VIM also received a gold rating from the NAFC last year.
“There’s no endowment,” said VIM board member Robert “Robin” McGraw at the reception, explaining that years ago the board didn’t think it would be necessary to have one given the expansion of government-funded health care, and that this campaign would relieve some pressure. “We thought 15 years ago we’d be out of this business.”
That expected universal insurance coverage didn’t happen. Not everyone is eligible. The need in an already established community as well as among newly arriving immigrants continued to grow.
VIM saw 400 new patients last year, said Executive Director Ilana Steinhauer, and already 200 more this year for a total of 1,300 patients. Half of those patients live in Pittsfield.
Founded in 2003 with a vision for doctors, dentists, nurses and other health care professionals to donate their time and expertise — retired or not — VIM now has 60 clinicians total. Its approach is holistic in that it connects immigrants, for instance, to an array of resources. It treats social and economic pains as much as the physical.
Other efforts include VIM liaisons with the schools in Great Barrington and Pittsfield who help the dozens of new young immigrant students navigate school, as well as help the school better understand the needs of students.
VIM school liaison America Lopez and Laura Cabrera of Habitat for Humanity and Latinas413 at the VIM fundraising kickoff.
“In the past it was more complicated because there was no support inside the schools,” said America Lopez, VIM‘s liaison with the Berkshire Hills Regional School District. “I’m bridging [students] with all the services we have at VIM.”
Marcela Urrea fills a similar role for VIM in Pittsfield. Urrea and Lopez both said they also work with other organizations to introduce and coordinate things like after-school programs, soccer and summer camps.
“We see people just days after they arrive,” said Kelly Baxter Spitz, VIM’s director of advancement, noting that immigrants learn of VIM from friends and family already in the community. “They feel safe here.”
The need for help grows even in Massachusetts, which has the highest rate insured of residents in the U.S., said VIM Board Chair Art Peisner. Only about 3 percent of the state’s residents are without coverage, according to the 2022 U.S. Census.
Dental coverage is rare in the state, however. And MassHealth dental coverage is very basic, Peisner said, making that particular service of VIM’s precious.
Matt Mandel, a retired anesthesiologist and a VIM founding board member, recalls when VIM came together after the late Marion Simon pitched the idea of a volunteer medical nonprofit.
Mandel was sold.
“I spent my days diving for doctors and diving for dollars,” Mandel said, noting the early support of so many. “And here we are.”
Founding Volunteers in Medicine board member Matt Mandel and VIM board Chair Art Peisner at Friday's fundraising kickoff at the Berkshire Museum. VIM announced it is expanding to Pittsfield as well as expanding its Great Barrington location.
He gestured around. Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer was there, and spoke to those gathered of the moral responsibility to the vulnerable that VIM satisfies with such vigor. Tyer and her office helped VIM find its city location.
The city also gave VIM $200,000 of its $42 million in pandemic relief money, Tyer said, because the nonprofit applied on the basis they could provide transportation to Great Barrington to city residents who need it.
The stories of some VIM patients reveal that VIM will stretch itself far beyond basic care for a patient.
In an emotional speech, Steinhauer told the story of Ermelinda, who fled Ecuador with her teenage son to escape gang violence. She suffered a head injury that detached two retinas while she was detained in a border facility in the U.S., and received no medical care before she was deported. Her son was eventually murdered. She fled again last year and this time successfully landed in the Berkshires with her niece. VIM provided four eye surgeries, in addition to legal and other assistance.
After the last surgery, Ermelinda put on a pair of glasses. “She saw light,” Steinhauer said, “she saw hope and she saw a future.”
Heather Bellow can be reached at hbellow@berkshireeagle.com or 413-329-6871.