Staff and Volunteers

Our Staff

The Open Door Clinic has an enthusiastic and dedicated staff comprised of the following individuals:

Timothy Cope, M.D., is the CHSAC Medical Director. Dr. Cope has been a volunteer with the clinic since November 2010. He specializes in Family Practice. Besides staffing the clinics, Dr. Cope also provides collaboration and support for our nurse practitioner volunteers, and is available for standard and emergency consultation. Dr. Cope retired from active practice in the Middlebury area but continues to care for patients and teach medical students and residents in his role at the Open Door Clinic.

Julie Arel, MSW, MPH, is the CHSAC Executive Director.  Julie has been working in Public Health for 15 years.  She has focused her efforts in tobacco control and more recently in health care for children with special healthcare needs.  She was the Executive Director of Parent to Parent of Vermont prior to joining the Open Door Clinic.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Hedley RN, Case Manager is a native of Addison County.  Her years of nursing experience and knowledge of the community are definite assets for the clinic.  Betsy manages the medical and social service referrals, coordinates the clinic’s prescription medication program and ensures appropriate medical follow-up.

Julia Doucet, RN, is a professional educator with over fifteen years of program development experience. She created an extremely successful college course on self-sufficient living which was taught at the University of Vermont for a decade. Julia has also designed curricula for several environmental education organizations. She has worked and traveled in Mexico and Central America as a sea kayak and natural history guide. She is a current Vermont RN.

Kay Freedy, Outreach Coordinator, Kay keeps the clinic operating efficiently by providing clerical expertise, database management, and organizational skills.  She is a trained medical interpreter fluent in Spanish who works with our outreach program as an interpreter, translator, and cultural competency trouble shooter.  Kay also coordinates non-medical volunteers and walks patients through the Green Mountain Care application and enrollment process.