This is the sixth in a series of articles on Christ’s Church outreach initiatives.  This issue focuses on the Open Door Family Medical Center, temporarily housed in an office building at90 South Ridge Street, in Rye Brook.  The Center was the recipient this year of a $5,000 grant from Christ’s Church. Ann Spaeth is the Outreach liaison to the Vestry, and the Director of The Council of Community Services for Port Chester & Rye Brook.

Open Door Health Provider

by Ann Barringer Spaeth

A bilingual success story

Way back in the early nineties, I was invited to a meeting to brainstorm a strategy for bringing Open Door to Port Chester.  We had the best of minds at work on this task – but the Village of Port Chester would have none of it.  The Village Board was concerned that a free or low-cost health provider in Port Chester would be a magnet for low income individuals.  They argued that it might further overcrowd an already overcrowded Village. Now twelve years later, with Village blessings, Open Door has bought the perfect building located at the corner of Boston Post Road and Grace Church Street in downtown Port Chester!

Currently Open Door is housed in an office building at90 South Ridge Street, in Rye Brook. Thanks to a few determined people from Ossining Open Door and United Hospital the center opened at this location 1995.  New York State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer was instrumental in securing capital funds through the State Legislature and she continues to support Open Door to this day.

When I first visited Open Door at the Rye Brook site I was shocked to find out that when they opened they had expected to serve 1,500 and 3,000 showed up!  Nine years later they are serving almost 10,000 people, which represents 32,500 visits a year.  They have already expanded twice and are now filled to overflowing.

I was also dismayed to hear that there was virtually no support from people on this side of the county for Open Door. So I helped the center create an advisory committee which included members from Christ’s Church, Rev. Canon Susan Harriss, Jack & Ella Place, David & Katherine Moore and Roz Larr. It continues to be of concern to me that the majority of funds raised and allocated to this branch of Open Door comes from the Hudson River side of the county. The health care in our area would be in sad straights without Open Door. I am pleased that Christ’s Church has become a supporter of the facility.

Open Door was founded in a church basement in Ossining in 1972 as a free clinic.  It now is a $10 million a year operation employing almost 130 people, including 15 board certified physicians who now handle 90,000 patient visits annually at four sites across the county. Patient service revenues, Medicaid and interest income comprise 72% of the funding - the rest comes from federal, state and local grants, and no one is turned away because of an inability to pay.  However there is always a shortfall because government funding does not provide for capital expenses such as facilities and equipment as well as many desperately needed outreach, education, counseling and support services.

Medical services are provided in Rye Brook in both Spanish and English.  The center is no longer a clinic, but operates like your private physicians office.  You are assigned a Family Doctor, whom you see on an ongoing basis. That Doctor sees the whole family, from baby to grandma, and  refers out to specialists when necessary. In addition OB-GYN services, HIV-AIDS outreach & counseling, nutrition counseling, dentistry and podiatry. Currently its patients have to take cabs to the Center.  In its new facility over 85% of patients will be able to walk to the Center, thus saving hundreds of dollars a year.

Open Door’s patients are no strangers to you – they work in your garden, clean your home, care for your children, serve you in restaurants, dry cleaners, etc.  Like me, you may have children also who do not have health insurance.  If you know someone who has been “outsourced”, they may not have health care either. Over 90% of Open Door’s patients are considered below the poverty level and 43% have no insurance of any kind.

When it moves to its new space, the center will have 25,000 square feet, which will allow for more opportunities to use volunteers. In its current location there is not even a closet available!  In the meantime, the advisory committee is spreading the word. And there is a Christ’s Church layette committee that gathers layettes for newborns run by Sonia Bartlett, Anne Hentschel and Cairistin Mills. The Center delivers approximately 300 Port Chester babies a year. at Phelps Memorial in Sleepy Hollow. If you would like to serve on the Open Door Advisory Committee contact me.