The good Cornellians can do: Dr. Susan Labarthe ’64
In the early 1990’s Susan Labarthe '64 was living in central Vermont, studying for her MCAT exams. She found herself without health insurance or access to affordable medical care. She and others like her in Vermont were advocating for a solution, when they landed on the idea of establishing a free clinic.
For many of us the motivation was our own individual circumstances,” Susan recalls. “I had quit my job to pursue premedical studies and had no access to affordable medical insurance. I’d been working part-time as a home health nurse and saw firsthand the circumstances—what we’re now calling ‘social determinants of health’—of many of my patients.”
A few community groups came together to champion the free clinic, and they secured a space from the local hospital at the rental rate of $1/year. As one of the founders, Susan was charged with procuring furnishings and supplies for the new clinic.
In 1993, in Susan’s second year of medical school, the People’s Health & Wellness Clinic opened in Barre, Vermont. Over the years, Susan has continued to serve as a physician volunteer, part of a wholly volunteer team providing basic health care to uninsured and under-insured Vermonters. Susan says the mission of the clinic remains essential.
“We now see so many more folks who are homeless and/or struggling with various forms of substance dependence, or who have moved back to Vermont from out of state and haven’t found a job yet or have lost their out-of-state Medicaid, or migrant workers with little or no English,” she says.
The clinic is funded by government and corporate grants, individual donations, local churches, and periodic fundraisers, such as the recent Great Green Mountain Bob Dylan Contest at the local Grange.
After earning a degree in history in 1964, Susan attended the Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing in Manhattan, graduating in 1967 with her second Cornell degree. In 1978 Susan earned a master’s degree in nursing from Duke University, and in 1996, at the age of 53, she earned her MD degree from the University of Vermont. For nearly six decades now, Susan has been practicing medicine.
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