Nestled behind the hustle and bustle of Porter Hospital in Middlebury is a small white trailer, home to the Open Door Clinic. Located at 100 Porter Drive in Middlebury, the Open Door Clinic is a free health clinic for uninsured and underinsured Vermonters. Although the clinic primarily serves Addison County’s migrant farmworker population, it also serves locals who may otherwise struggle to afford care. The clinic provides care and services to all those who meet the eligibility criterion: having an income at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Line.
The Open Door Clinic began in 1990, when non-profit organizations in Addison County discovered that many of their clients were unable to access affordable healthcare. To address the issue, a group of representatives from the medical community and local non-profits met to discuss potential solutions for their patients.
This group marked the birth of the Open Door Clinic, then called Community Health Services of Addison County. In 1991, Ben and Jerry’s gave the organization a grant, allowing them to buy a bus that was outfitted to be a travelling clinic. Both volunteer and employed clinicians worked on the bus, increasing healthcare access across the county. In 1993, Porter Hospital partnered with Open Door and opened a standing clinic on its premises. Since then, the Open Door Clinic has continued to expand its outreach, including to immigrant populations in Addison County.
The Open Door Clinic’s Executive Director, Heidi Sulis, said the clinic has kept very busy in recent years, holding clinics every Tuesday evening and one Friday per month. The weekly clinics provide primary care, and medical providers refer patients to specialists as needed.
“As a safety net organization, we try to prevent people from slipping through the many cracks and fissures of our healthcare systems. We provide acute and chronic care for adults, ages 18-65, and refer to specialists as needed, helping patients with financial assistance paperwork to access this care,” Sulis wrote in an email to The Campus.
The clinic not only provides on-site care, but also offers mobile care.
“Historically, we have annually visited between 40-50 local dairy, vegetable and poultry farms and orchards, and are now expanding upon this model through four new collaborations and worksites, including Charter House, our local shelter, the John Graham shelter in Vergennes, Basin Harbor Club and several orchards who employ migrant workers,” Sulis wrote.
The expansion of the clinic model was made possible in 2023 through the purchase of a new outreach van, funded by a donor and a state health equity grant. The van allows the clinic’s healthcare providers to visit local farms and provide outreach.
“It has allowed us to provide care to migrant workers who, due to their long work hours, are often unable to come to the clinic. Instead, we bring the care to them,” the Open Door Clinic’s Clinical and Program director Julia Doucet said.
The clinic also provides insurance help and dental care, and is looking to add mental healthcare services.
“Last year, we served 1,307 distinct patients, including 394 new patients and provided 1879 medical and dental visits,” Sulis wrote. “Our volunteer interpreters and staff interpreted for 568 Spanish-speaking patients across 2,411 appointments between our clinic, Porter Hospital and specialists’ offices.”
Middlebury students make up a significant portion of the clinic’s volunteers: given its proximity to campus, Open Door has a long history of Middlebury student involvement. William Mortell ’26 began volunteering at the Open Door Clinic in October of this year. He serves as one of 57 interpreters at the clinic, more than half of whom are Middlebury students.
“I help interpret for patients who don’t speak English and doctors who speak a little or no Spanish. I’m essentially facilitating doctor-patient communication and making sure that both sides are getting the information they need to ensure the highest quality of care possible,” Mortell said.
Mortell, like many other students, found the clinic through his longstanding connection with the college.
“I think there’s a great synergy between a school that has this strong reputation for language pedagogy and students who come here interested in learning languages and building both linguistic and cultural competency. Open Door provides students with a way to use the skills they’re learning in the classroom to make a positive impact on the wider VT community,” Mortell said.
In an interview with The Campus, Communications and Volunteer Coordinator for the Open Door Clinic Susannah McCandless shared that Middlebury students put in over 500 volunteer hours last year.
“We train between 20 and 30 students each year at annual training, and in addition, we train another 20 or more students who come in throughout the year as volunteers,” McCandless said.
The Open Door Clinic provides a way for students to get involved in the local Middlebury community.
“We often express our gratitude for working in a county that values collaboration and are happy to have the opportunity to explore and foster new relationships while nurturing and cultivating those we’ve held for a long time,” Sulis wrote.
Applications will soon be available for the Open Door’s summer internship position. They can be found on the Center for Community Engagement’s Privilege and Poverty website. Any bilingual English and Spanish speakers interested in the clinic’s work are encouraged to apply.
