THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE—Volunteers in Medicine looks to close the loop on legal services for its influx of new patients
GREAT BARRINGTON — Volunteers in Medicine, the organization that offers free health care to those who are ineligible for health insurance and income-qualified, says a $50,000 grant will help connect patients with legal services.
How might legal issues intersect with a patient's medical care?
Ilana Steinhauer, executive director of Volunteers in Medicine, gave one example.
“So if you're going to lose your house and you're working with a housing attorney, he might say, ‘Do you have a diagnosis that needs to keep you in your house?’” Steinhauer explained.
In that example, the lawyer would request medical records showing proof of the diagnosis and could help the patient keep a roof over their heads.
The stress of legal issues also can have an impact on a person’s health, Steinhauer said, sometimes to the point the person neglects their own care.
“We know that 20 percent of somebody's health outcomes are related to clinical care and 80 percent are related to everything else we call 'social determinants,' so housing and food and education and lived environment,” said Steinhauer. “Every client is cared for with both their clinical needs and their social determinants, everything else that they need. And so we do that by mobilizing volunteers and a small staff and many of our volunteers are clinical.”
Asylum-seekers may be particularly vulnerable to challenges to their health posed by their legal status. An asylum seeker is defined by Amnesty International as a person “seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country, but who hasn't yet been legally recognized as a refugee and is waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim.”
Ilana Steinhauer is the executive director of Volunteers in Medicine. The health care provider is seeing an influx of new patients, many of them immigrants to the Berkshires.
As Volunteers in Medicine sees an influx of new patients, especially immigrants, the $50,000 grant from the Springfield-based insurance company Health New England will help close this loop when it comes to its patients and legal services. The grant will allow Volunteers in Medicine to create a continuing connection with a legal team for patients, whether it's through Berkshire Immigrant Center or Central West Justice Center or a different law firm or group, perhaps in a different state. The grant also will pay for training volunteers at Volunteers in Medicine in cultural awareness.
Volunteers are needed
Volunteers in Medicine seeks volunteers for its new health center in Pittsfield starting in late January, and it has immediate need for volunteers at its Great Barrington office.
Clinical volunteers are needed in internal medicine, behavioral health, dental and nutrition.
Bilingual volunteers are needed at the front desk, for patient navigation, as drivers and interpreters.
To become a volunteer, contact Volunteers in Medicine's volunteer manager Eleanor Velez at 413-528-4014 or visit vimberkshires.org.
“In Berkshire County, we're really lucky” when it comes to legal support for immigrants, Steinhauer said. “We have the Berkshire Immigrant Center, and we have Central West Justice, which is a subsidiary of Legal Aid out of Springfield. And they each have very specific roles that they can play within immigration law, but they cannot meet the capacity.”
“We need to ensure that legal needs are part of our care model,” Steinhauer said. Volunteers in Medicine has typically referred patients out for legal consultation and then had no further contact with the patient’s legal team.
While Volunteers in Medicine provides health care to anyone uninsured, between 90 and 95 percent of its patients are new to the United States and the Berkshires.
“The immigrant population is the only growing population in Berkshire County, and it continues to grow,” Steinhauer said. “We are a community that has always been welcoming, and a community that is a good place for people to move to.”
In 2022, Volunteers in Medicine saw 540 new families, mostly from Central and South America, West Africa and Eastern Europe. It has 1,700 active patients.
As it approaches its 20th year of operation in 2024, Volunteers in Medicine is preparing to open a new center in Pittsfield in late January. It’s also planning to expand its staff from 16 to 20 and to expand its pool of 160 volunteers. The nonprofit’s budget is expected to grow to $2.3 million post-expansion as well.
In addition to offering care with internal medicine, behavioral health, optometry, integrative pain management and nutrition, Volunteers in Medicine has community health workers who help its patients “get them the resources they need in a system that's really difficult to navigate," Steinhauer said.
Jane Kaufman is Community Voices Editor at The Berkshire Eagle. She can be reached at jkaufman@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6125.