With Vermont Health Connect’s open enrollment period coming up fast, we want to make sure patients who use this insurance marketplace are aware of upcoming changes, specifically that you will begin paying your insurance company directly in 2022.

Here are some important need-to-knows:

When is Vermont Health Connect’s Open Enrollment? 
From November 1 – December 15, 2021, Vermonters can sign up for health and dental insurance that begins January 1, 2022.

This year, an extension will also allow Vermonters to sign up between December 16, 2021 – January 15, 2022 for insurance that begins February 1, 2022.  

What stays the same? 
Vermonters must sign up through Vermont Health Connect to get financial help paying for health insurance.

Is it true that more Vermonters can get financial help now than ever before? 
Yes. This year, customers may qualify for lower costs if they are in a single plan with income up to $105,000. Those in family plans with income up to $297,000 may qualify too. They can only get this financial help if they sign up through Vermont Health Connect.

Who can help answer questions?
Vermont Health Connect is open from 8am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. During open enrollment (November 1 – January 15), they will be open until 5pm. You can call VHC directly at 1-855-899-9600.

Additionally, CHCB’s Patient Support Services team are available to help you on a same day first-come, first-serve basis at our Riverside Health Center. Hours are Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm. You can also contact our PSS staff at 802-264-8124 or patientsupport@chcb.org.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Michael Ialeggio to CHCB! Michael moved to Vermont when he was thirteen, and completed middle school and high school in Randolph. As an undergraduate student, he studied Economics and Politics at Oberlin College in Ohio. He enjoyed a lengthy stretch of freewheeling during his twenties, during which time he worked with a labor union, a national park, and a vegetable farm, amongst many other seasonal adventures and assorted odds and ends. He attended medical school at UVM, and returns to Burlington after a three year hiatus in Rochester, NY, where he completed his residency in Family Medicine. Michael is excited to re-examine the Burlington creemee scene (which faces strong competition from Rochester’s frozen custard) and to find an old boat to sail on in Mallets Bay. He enjoys standard outdoorsy hobbies and is also interested in mental health, Spanish, saxophone, and reading. He is excited to join the OB team as part of CHCB’s Maternal/Child Health Program and is accepting new patients at our Riverside Health Center.

We’re so happy to share that our Homeless Healthcare Program (HHP) Clinical Care Coordinator, Anna Lisa Reynolds, RN, has received an Unsung Hero Award from the Vermont Agency of Human Services! We’re so proud of Anna Lisa and our entire Homeless Healthcare Program team for the work they do to ensure Vermonters experiencing homelessness have equitable access to quality care. Read the entire announcement from AHS here.

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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Scott McFarland joined CHCB in 2018 initially as a temp, but quickly transitioned to a full time employee in Patient Services at Riverside. Most recently, Scott became Lead Patient Services Representative, overseeing daily operations at CHCB’s Riverside, Safe Harbor, and Pearl Street locations. With a background in emergency services, Scott was drawn to CHCB as a workplace as it provides a way for him to continue to serve and support his local community, as well as work with an organization “where everyone does not just work here, they want to be here.”

Growing up in Scarborough, Maine, Scott fell in love with Vermont after attending St. Michael’s College and ultimately decided to live here after graduation. Scott likes to stay active outside of work and enjoys all games “video, board, and lawn.” He also trains as an endurance athlete, participating in obstacle courses such as “Spartan” races. Scott spends time watching foreign media, studying ancient mythology and “making terrible jokes at every possible opportunity.”

As Lead Patient Services Representative, Scott is typically based out of the Riverside Health Center; however, he reports “traveling around to wherever I am needed for the day.” Over the years, Scott has worked at both Medical and Dental front desks at Riverside, as well as Safe Harbor, Pearl Street, Good Health, and at our off-site vaccination clinics in Grande Isle. This patient-facing position is one that, according to Scott, requires much more than just checking patients in-and-out of their appointments. “We schedule appointments, handle patients’ paperwork, assist with bills and insurance authorizations, and whatever else a patient wants to ask us about when they come in,” he shares. As the Lead, Scott is often called upon to help sort out unusual patient requests or challenging situations.

When asked what brings him to work each day, Scott has two reasons: One is the “sense of duty” and ability to help people in their time of need; secondly are his coworkers, who he describes as “a fun loving, tight knit group that is always ready and willing to help each other with work, and crack a joke when things are getting too serious.” Scott is extremely proud of how his CHCB colleagues handled the Covid-19 pandemic. “We stayed open to provide care in the most critical of times and continued to help from the first shut down all the way to vaccinations. I could not be more proud to work with everyone here”.

Upon reflection of CHCB’s Mission statement, “Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) improves the health of ALL within the communities we serve”, Scott concludes:

“This mission statement resonates very strongly with me. Medicine and wellness do not belong to any one person, one class, or one community. Every single human on this planet is a person first, no exceptions. I have made it my life’s duty to help all persons in need, both in and out of my career. Wellness goes far beyond medical care…and we as humans have a duty to help foster that wherever we go.”

Please welcome Drs. Jessica Hutchins, Reimy Evangelista De Leon and Maggie Graham to CHCB!

Jessica Hutchins, DDS joined our dental team at the Riverside Dental Center earlier this year. She received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Reed College and worked in biochemical research at Shriners Hospitals for Children for several years before pursuing dentistry. She graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 2016 and has since practiced as a general dentist in St. Albans and Essex Junction. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, working on home projects and training for triathlons.

Reimy Evangelista De Leon, DDS just joined CHCB’s dental team last week, and will be splitting his time between the Riverside and South End Dental Centers. He is a second-generation dentist who was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. At a young age, Dr. Evangelista became aware of the extreme need for quality dental care that several populations lack. He started his dental career in 2008 as a Certified Dental Assistant in the Dominican Republic. The following year, he became a Registered Dental Hygienist. In 2015, Dr. Evangelista obtained his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) at Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and completed his Post-Doctoral education in Orofacial pain at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts in 2020. Dr. Evangelista’s experience included general dentistry in both public and private practices, working in academic settings as an orofacial pain provider at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and serving as a teaching assistant for the Dental Sleep Medicine and Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology department. Dr. Evangelista has completed several presentations and research papers over the years, the most recent being at the International Association of Dental Research (IADR) in 2019 and Archives of Clinical Case Studies; Myofascial TMD, Multifactorial Ethiology with Multidisciplinary Approach in 2020.

Maggie Graham, MD is the newest addition to CHCB’s medical team and is accepting new patients at the Riverside Health Center. She was born and raised Des Moines, Iowa and received her BA in Women’s Studies and MS in Epidemiology at the University of Iowa before moving to Vermont to attend medical school. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at the UVM Medical Center in 2021 and is excited to be part of the team at CHCB. Her interests in medicine include LGBTQ+ medicine, especially transgender health /gender affirming care, women’s health, medication assisted treatment for substance use disorders, pediatric and adolescent health, as well as general adult medicine. She is thrilled to be able to help run CHCB’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ patients. Maggie believes developing therapeutic relationships with her patients is the best part of being a primary care provider. Outside of medicine, she enjoys spending time with her family, including her three children, exploring the outdoors in Vermont, running, and reading.