CHC joined the 2025 Pride Parade in Burlington! Our team marched, hosted a table with information and resources, and provided on-site vaccinations and HIV testing from our mobile van.

At CHC, our mission is to improve the health of ALL within the communities we serve. We offer LGBTQ+ and gender-affirming health services in a welcoming space within our primary care model.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello!

Courtney Shelton, LICSW. As a licensed clinical social worker with a Master’s degree from the University of Southern California, Courtney’s background in child and adolescent mental health, family preservation services, and mental health services for incarcerated individuals has given her a unique understanding of the complexities of the human experience. She strives to create a safe and nonjudgmental space where you can explore your thoughts, feelings, and experiences without fear of criticism or rejection. She aims to approach each client with a humanistic perspective, recognizing the inherent value and dignity of every individual. When she’s not in the therapy room, you can find her hiking, camping, or growing her green thumb. She’s a traveler, always on the lookout for new adventures and experiences and, a self-proclaimed foodie, always eager to try new foods and flavors.

 

Brandon Benton, FNP-BC grew up in rural PA and recently relocated to VT from WV. He earned his BS in nursing from Duquesne University in 2016 and received his MS in nursing from Simmons University in 2022. He is also a 2024 graduate of the Keith Haring Nurse Practitioner Post-Graduate Fellowship in LGBTQ+ Health at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City. He provides primary care to all ages and is passionate about LGBTQ+ health, adolescent medicine, and sexual & gynecological health. He has also been a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) since 2019 and has extensively worked with children, adolescents, and adult victims of physical and sexual abuse as both a nurse and nurse practitioner. Brandon strives to provide a safe and trauma informed approach to his practice. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his partner and their fur-babies, spending time outdoors, and listening to live music.

 

Megan O’Brien, FNP graduated from University of Southern Maine with a Master of Nursing degree in 2010. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont. She practiced in rural Maine at a federally qualified health center before returning to Vermont to start at CHC in 2013. Over the past decade, she practiced at both the Riverside and Champlain Islands locations. As her interest in addiction medicine grew, she decided to work in this specialty area. Megan soon realized her heart was in primary care; enjoying the relationships with patients of all ages, managing acute and chronic conditions, and continuing treatment for substance use disorders. She is thrilled to be back with the CHC family and continue working in her community. In her free time Megan is often playing tennis, going on walks with her dog, planning her next travel adventure, or working on her conversational French language skills.

 

David Mooney, MD is a native Vermonter, having grown up in the Northeast Kingdom. Following high school he attended Lyndon State College and Berklee College of Music before deciding to pursue a career in mental health which was fueled by his experience as a mental health case manager. He did his pre-medical training at UVM with a BA in Psychology. He obtained his medical degree from American University of the Caribbean and, feeling the pull to return to Vermont, completed his residency in Psychiatry at UVM with a fellowship in Community and Public Psychiatry. He has worked as a medical director at Northwestern Counseling and Support Services, Lamoille County Mental Health, and Northeast Kingdom Human Services. He also has experience in inpatient work, having worked at UVM, Central Vermont Medical Center and the Vermont State Hospital. His main interest is in integrative psychiatry with an emphasis on preventive medicine and holistic approaches to patient management with a focus on origins of illness as opposed to symptom management. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family, pickleball, skiing, raising chickens, and beekeeping.

 

CHC is thrilled to announce a generous donation of 20 iPads and carts from Propio Language Services to support real-time video interpreter services for our patients!

Since 2021, CHC has partnered with Propio to provide thousands of hours of interpreter services for patients. Last year alone, interpreters assisted CHC patients on more than 18,000 calls, providing services in 66 unique languages.

With the donation of iPads and carts, CHC is now able to provide video-remote interpreting, an improvement over phone-based service that makes communication easier for patients whose primary language is not English and those with hearing loss. With the new equipment, CHC staff can quickly connect with qualified, HIPAA-compliant interpreters in over 300 languages, including American Sign Language.

Video-remote interpreting removes barriers to care, gives patients greater independence in accessing healthcare, and allows our staff and providers to communicate critical information in real time. Thank you, Propio Language Services, for helping us strengthen language access and ensure every patient can receive the best care possible!

You’re invited! Please join us on Thursday, October 24 at 5:30pm to celebrate the accomplishments from CHC’s past fiscal year and enjoy a special panel discussion with our extraordinary staff! This is a free event hosted at our Riverside location (617 Riverside Avenue, Burlington). RSVP is appreciated to mstevens@chcb.org.

CHC has opened an onsite pharmacy at our Riverside practice. Accessibly located in the heart of Burlington’s Old North End at 617 Riverside Avenue, this service allows community members to refill their prescriptions before they leave the building. The CHC – Pharmacy accepts all major insurances, including Medicaid and Medicare.

For many years, CHC has been part of a Federally Qualified Health Center pharmacy network which offers eligible patients reduced-cost prescriptions, saving patients roughly $2 million annually. In adding our own pharmacy onsite, CHC has taken the next step in ensuring accessibility to medications for their community members.

“No patient should ever have to make the difficult decision between refilling their prescription and their family’s next meal,” said Jeff McKee, CHC CEO. “Adding a physical pharmacy into our array of services is a proactive approach that ensures that no matter what is happening in the national pharmaceutical landscape, our patients are protected. We now have the ability to work with partners, not only to maintain the 340B prescription drug program, but expand it.”