Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) is home to over 320 staff members, across eight different locations, serving 30,000 patients annually. The mission of CHCB is to improve the health of all those who live in the communities we serve, and, as with most things, it is all in the delivery. This series is produced by former CHCB nurse and current Board member Beth Reilly, to chronicle the many different people who make up the fabric of CHCB, and stitch together the variety of paths, passions, and experiences of those who rise to the occasion, each day, to provide outstanding health care for our community.

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Ann Dutil, Patient Accounts Supervisor, is one of the many CHCB employees who comes to work every day with the dedication needed to fulfill CHCB’s mission. In fact, she not only fulfills it, she is a living example of an individual dedicated to and invested in CHCB, as well as her local community. 

Ann grew up in Williamstown, VT, graduating from Williamstown High School. After attending Woodbury College in Montpelier, she ended up settling in Chittenden County, working in Burlington and living and raising her children in Jericho. Ann has been married to her husband Todd for twenty-four years and they have two sons, Thad and Andrew.  Ann has worked hard to be an advocate for both of her sons and others who have  Autism Spectrum Disorder. A lover of animals, she shares her home with three rescues, a dog and two cats. Ann is a member of the Humane Society of The United States and ASPCA. She  also helps out at a local Christmas Tree Farm most every holiday season.  Ann is an avid lover of lighthouses, and loves to travel to coastal Maine where she can be alongside the ocean and unwind.  

Prior to CHCB, Ann worked in a variety of roles in the health care sector for nineteen years.  Ann has worked at CHCB’s billing team since December 2017, initially as a Patient Accounts Representative II. After earning credentials, she became a Team Lead and was promoted to Patient Accounts Supervisor almost one year ago. When asked about what brought her to CHCB, Ann shared “I wanted to work for a health care center that provided quality care to all patients. It was also important for me to work for an organization that cares about its staff, and where your input is valued. I really feel like a valuable member of the CHCB family.” 

Ann describes her role as working to ensure Patient Accounts are up-to-date and that billing inquiries are being resolved. Ann and her staff also work with insurance companies to advocate for patients in resolving claims. Regarding her team, Ann reports, “We are a small but mighty team who truly care about the quality of our work, and truly do our very best for the patients we serve.” 

For Ann, how patients are treated, regardless of circumstance, is paramount. “For me, the piece of our mission that resonates most of all is how we respectfully treat our patients. We treat all of our patients with dignity.” Ann and the Patient Accounts team she leads are one of the many departments at CHCB that, while not patient-facing, continue to work relentlessly to uphold CHCB’s mission, which is integral to the delivery of equitable and exceptional access to health care. Whether on the phone with an insurance company on behalf of a patient claim, or collaborating with the Director of Patient Accounts to improve processes and develop systems to ensure accuracy and efficiency, Ann is doing so with CHCB’s mission in mind every step of the way.

Please join us in welcoming Alicyn Trask, PA-C, MMSc to the medical team at our Riverside Health Center! Alicyn completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Neuroscience at University of Colorado, Boulder. She received her Masters of Medical Science from Emory University’s Physician Assistant program with special emphasis in rural healthcare. Before joining CHCB, she worked for Stride Community Health Center in Denver, Colorado for 13 years. Most recently, she completed a 2 year fellowship in dermatology in South Florida where she was awarded the distinction of diplomate fellow by the Society of Dermatology PAs. Her professional interests include holistic medicine, the connection between physical and mental health, women’s health and dermatology. During her spare time, she enjoys adventures of all kinds – hiking with her dogs, biking, backpacking, skiing and traveling the world – as well as yoga, reading and word puzzles. She is accepting new patients and looks forward to meeting you!

Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) is home to over 320 staff members, across eight different locations, serving 30,000 patients annually. The mission of CHCB is to improve the health of all those who live in the communities we serve, and, as with most things, it is all in the delivery. This series is produced by former CHCB nurse and current Board member Beth Reilly, to chronicle the many different people who make up the fabric of CHCB, and stitch together the variety of paths, passions, and experiences of those who rise to the occasion, each day, to provide outstanding health care for our community.

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Anna Lisa Reynolds started working at CHCB over five years ago, initially as a staff nurse before quickly taking on a leadership role as a Nurse Educator. In addition to her work as an Educator, she also helped develop and implement the Be You Clinic to deliver gender-affirming care for patients in the LGBTQ+ community. For the past two years, Anna Lisa has worked at the Safe Harbor Health Center as the Clinical Care Coordinator for the Homeless Healthcare Program (HHP), “a small clinic, with consistent staff, exclusively serving homeless or recently housed patients, providing wrap-around services with a lot of continuity.” Anna Lisa describes removing the stigma associated with homelessness as a key part of her work. “My patients are just regular people, and the staff at Safe Harbor aim to provide them a safe place for medical and behavioral health care.”

One aspect that makes her role unique is her investment into understanding the nuances of this particular population of patients, and finding ways to meet her patients where they are at on a daily basis. Also, one common misconception is that the Safe Harbor location is the only place to provide care to homeless patients, which is untrue. Any eligible patient is able to benefit from the Homeless Healthcare Program from any of the CHCB sites, not just Safe Harbor. The social determinants of health, and in particular in relationship with homelessness, can be identified and managed at all CHCB locations.

Having grown up in Vermont, Anna Lisa still has family here and feels extremely connected to the landscape and values most Vermonter’s share. Outside of work, Anna Lisa loves to adventure locally (biking, skiing, and hiking) and explore the world outside of Vermont as well.  Having traveled  extensively, she actually spent a ‘gap’ year in Germany the year after she graduated from high school, as well as worked on a farm in Rupert, VT. When she is not working or adventuring, you might find her taking care of her many chickens or tending to her vegetable garden in Winooski.

When asked ‘What keeps you working at CHCB?’ Anna Lisa is quick to answer, “The people. I have great coworkers, who are not only supportive, they are all pieces of a bigger picture that create real differences in our patients’ lives.” Whether it is providing direct medical care and outreach services in the community, or identifying barriers to health and wellness and creating ways to remove those barriers, Anna Lisa is there, alongside her patients, listening, supporting, and providing “a little safe harbor” for all who need it.

We’re so excited to share the news of our newly-purchased outreach van which will expand access to services provided through our Homeless Healthcare Program! Having a dedicated outreach vehicle has been an organizational dream for over a decade, now realized thanks to federal funding in support of expanded coronavirus testing.

CHCB’s Medical Director of Quality, Risk and Compliance, Kerry Goulette, PA-C, MHP, was recently interviewed by WCAX, WPTZ, ABC22 and VPR. You can also read more about it via VT Digger and the Journal of Emergency Medical Services as well.

Please join us in welcoming Maria Spadanuda, PMHNP to the CHCB Psychiatry Team, and Rachel Ivancie, CNM, WH-NP, MPH to our OB Team! We are also excited to welcome back Shelly Paquette, FNP, a former CHCB Registered Nurse who recently returned to us as a Primary Care Provider!

Maria will be working at both our Riverside Health Center and GoodHEALTH Internal Medicine locations. Maria received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing followed by certification as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner from Indiana/Purdue University. She has a strong interest in public health. Her first position after graduation was providing mobile pre-natal care to under-served populations in Indianapolis and within a high-risk labor and delivery unit at the county hospital. After many years of practice in Women’s Health, she completed her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Vermont in 2009 and became board certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. She continues to study integrative modalities that positively impact mental health, and completed a yoga teacher training for health professionals in 2018. During time off, she is outdoors as much as possible, engrossed in yoga practice, reading, cooking, and creating mosaic art.

Rachel will be working out of our Riverside Health Center. Prior to becoming a Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, she worked in public health research and policy both in Denver, CO and abroad in Guyana. Rachel then attended Yale University where she studied advance practice nursing and midwifery in New Haven, CT. She is passionate about maternal and child health, catching babies, and working with patients of all ages on their sexual and reproductive health needs and journeys. In her free time she enjoys cooking and loves to be in the outdoors running, fly fishing, and skiing.

Shelly will be working out of the Riverside Health Center. She is a native Vermonter who is thrilled to be back at CHCB after seven years working, adventuring and getting her Doctor of Nursing Practice in the Pacific Northwest. She obtained her BSN at the University of Scranton in 2007 and first worked for CHCB as a Registered Nurse at the Safe Harbor Health Center. Shelly spent eight months working in Haiti prior to obtaining her Doctor of Nursing Practice at the University of Portland, Oregon in 2017, and completed a Nurse Practitioner Residency program through Yakima Valley Farm Workers in 2018. Shelly has a passion for public health and her experiences working in communicable diseases, homeless health care, and with the refugee and immigrant populations in both Vermont and Oregon provided a unique framework for caring for people of all backgrounds and interests. She believes that the therapeutic relationship between provider and patient is special and the foundation for primary care. In her free time, she enjoys learning new languages, traveling, hiking, and spending time with her husband and two dogs.