Helping hands: Centre Volunteers in Medicine marks 20 years of serving the community
Feb. 10 marked our 20th birthday at Centre Volunteers in Medicine and we plan to celebrate all year long! We are proud of 20 years of service to our community.
For 20 years we have provided free health care to our friends and neighbors in need, the low-income, uninsured and under-insured who live or work in Centre County. Over the years, we have shown, again and again, our ability to pivot and change, doing our best to meet the community’s needs.
Our founding volunteers wanted to open a medical-only clinic. However, the need for free dental care was so great, they found a way to open a dental clinic in addition to the young, growing medical clinic. In 2012 when Tapestry left the area and women had nowhere to turn for their health care, we opened our women’s services program. In 2018 we began exploring ways to integrate behavioral health care into our primary care program, and now are proud to offer a fully integrated service. When the group managing the Centre County Breast Care Coalition wanted to retire, we took on those services so women could continue accessing free mammograms. Most recently, we stepped up to help vaccinate our community, administering over 45,000 COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. Later this year, we will move into our new expanded clinic on Sandy Drive. This space will allow us more room to care for patients and additional area for continued flexibility to meet the ever-changing health care needs of our county.
Our dedicated board of directors, staff and volunteers help to make our clinic run smoothly and believe in our Culture of Caring philosophy that started with the first clinic and continues today at CVIM. We have so much to be grateful for during our 20-year celebration; our patients, volunteers, and donors are a vital part of our clinic. We will honor our volunteers, our yearly donors, our legacy donors and our capital campaign donors throughout the year. We’re excited about the possibilities that the future brings and look forward to serving even more patients for a greater impact on Centre County.