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.”

Meredith Lipini, LICSW received her BSW from the University of Vermont. After completing a year of service with Americorps in New Orleans, Meredith earned her MSW from Simmons University and worked in Boston, MA for several years, providing therapeutic services in a variety of settings including residential, inpatient hospitalization, home-based, and most recently in a school-based setting. Meredith’s clinical work has primarily been with children, adolescents, and families with a focus on mental health stabilization, health and behavior change, crisis intervention, complex trauma, self-esteem, and depression and anxiety management. Meredith utilizes her love for the arts throughout her work, often incorporating tenets of art therapy and mindfulness into her sessions! When not at work, Meredith enjoys being in nature, painting or crafting, or spending time with friends and family.

Kristin Koeller, DNP, AGNP-C first worked for CHC as a medical assistant in 2019 before beginning the direct-entry nursing program at The University of Vermont where she earned her RN and Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. As an RN, she worked in Vermont at a low-barrier buprenorphine program providing MAT with a focus on harm reduction and overdose prevention. She then went on to work at a private family medicine practice where she expanded her knowledge and skills in caring for individuals with both acute and chronic conditions. She is passionate about providing quality care to folks from all walks of life. Her adventurous spirit helps her enjoy any activity that involves being outdoors: Hiking, skiing, biking, and kayaking with her husband and golden retriever. She is ecstatic to return in a new role at CHC where her love of family medicine first started.

Arturo (Sunny) Monteiro, PA-C grew up in the greater Burlington area and has always been an avid lover of the community. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry and Pharmacology from the University of Vermont. After spending some time working in various administrative and clinical positions, he went on to receive his Master’s of Science Physician Assistant from Stony Brook University. He has always had a special interest in preventative care and has committed himself to lifelong learning, especially in the improvement of quality care for all. When he is not in clinic, you may see him out and about on Church St! In his free time, he enjoys playing hockey, skiing/snowboarding, and playing board games with friends.

Melanie Biegler, DO grew up in the Chicago suburbs. She attended Marquette University where she received a BS in Biomedical Sciences and a new interest in public health and preventative care while completing a public health internship as an urban farmer during that time. After working as an asthma educator through AmeriCorp, she attended medical school at A.T. Still University in Arizona with clinical rotations in Cincinnati, OH. She trained at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI for residency before making her way to Burlington to continue working in the community health center model that initially grew her interest in the importance of family and community health while in medical school. Melanie is board certified in family medicine and Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) and is passionate about working to address social determinants of health both in the office and on a policy level by partnering with patients to better understand their unique health goals and needs. Outside of medicine she enjoys running, hiking, painting and spending time with loved ones.

Therese Ray, MD is a board-certified Family Medicine Physician who trained at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine. She completed Family Medicine residency in Plattsburgh, NY as part of the UVM Health Network, receiving the AFRMD award upon graduation for patient advocacy and her strong commitment to compassionate patient-centered care. Dr. Ray enjoys caring for people across all of life’s stages and has a special interest in lifestyle and preventative medicine as well as reproductive health and pediatrics. Dr. Ray’s is an active member of GLMA and committed to being a safe space for all LGBTQIA community members. For fun, Dr. Ray likes to spend time outdoors, with loved ones, or exploring her new aerial dance hobby. Her pronouns are she/her.

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.