Volunteers in Medicine

By Matt Mandell

Founded in 2003, Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires, known as VIM, is a Great Barrington-based organization that provides free comprehensive healthcare to serve a growing need to Berkshire residents, several from Stockbridge, mobilizing doctors, dentists, nurses, and other health care professionals who donate their time and expertise. Some are retired, others are not. VIM treats social and economic pains along with the physical. It provides primary care, dentistry, women's health, ophthalmology, optometry, behavioral therapy, and more—all under one roof. VIM also works with community partners (schools, local governments, housing agencies, and more) to create more equitable systems for their patients. VIM now has 60 clinicians and 100 non-clinical volunteers, as well as a paid staff of 16.

The patient population ranges from newly arrived asylum seekers who need lifesaving care, to veterans who need dental work, to undocumented essential workers who have lived in the Berkshires for decades. Nearly all of the patients are employed, some holding up to 3 jobs.

Over the past 20 years, VIM has treated thousands of patients. It usually has an active patient roster of 1,300. There were 400 new patients in 2022 and 200 new patients in just the first three months of 2023.

This June, at the Berkshire Museum, VIM launched Care Works: The VIM Impact Campaign, announcing the plan to open a second VIM Care Center in Pittsfield, renovate and expand the Great Barrington Care Center, and create a fund to ensure VIM's impact for years to come.

Recent articles in The Berkshire Eagle and The Berkshire Edge described the reception as "joyous" and "radiating joy and excitement." In an emotional speech, Ilana Steinhauer, VIM's Executive Director, 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, and her eyesight faded.

Ermelinda fled again last year and this time successfully landed in the Berkshires with her niece. VIM arranged for four eye surgeries, in addition to legal and other assistance, and Ermelinda now has a strong case for asylum. After the last surgery, Ermelinda came into the care center to put on a pair of glasses, and she could see the faces around her for the first time in years. "She saw light," Steinhauer said, "she saw hope and she saw a future."

Portions of this article are excerpted from articles in The Berkshire Eagle (June 3, 2023) and The Berkshire Edge (June 5, 2023)

Editor's note: Matt Mandel, MD, is a co-founder and board member of VIM Berkshires. He received the American Medical Association Volunteer Physician of the Year award in 2013 and is one of the three VIM Berkshire physicians who have received the Massachusetts Medical Society Senior Volunteer Physician Award. For many years, he was an anesthesiologist in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He and his wife, Catherine, have been permanent residents of Stockbridge since 1999 and were part-timers since 1981.

Dogs of Stockbridge. Photo: Blue Moon Images/Dana Goedewaagen