PDA Public Service Award – Community Volunteers in Medicine
thousands of people. Since its start CVIM
has been supported entirely through
philanthropy. The clinic is located in a
converted and renovated warehouse in
West Chester and is open five days and one
evening a week. CVIM maintains seven dental
operatories, 10 medical exam rooms and the
Moran Family Conference Center for patient
education and wellness programs.
Outgoing president Dr. Bruce Terry
presented CVIM with the Public Service Award.
I am honored to present our Public Service
Award to an organization that has made
such a profound impact over a 20-year span.
Community Volunteers in Medicine (CVIM)
was founded in 1998 in Chester County, as
the first community-based volunteer clinic of
its kind in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
The clinic has expanded and evolved over the
years, while its vital mission has remained the
same, to provide “compassionate primary
medical and dental care and health education
to people who live or work in the Chester
County region who lack access to insurance,
in order to support their goals to lead
productive, healthy, and hopeful lives.”
CVIM has continued to do that with the help
of a vast army of volunteers and donors,
providing a much needed safety net to
In 2015 CVIM launched its Mobile Dental
Program, which expanded access to its
services, emphasizing exams and oral health
education at its satellite locations. In 2017,
CVIM provided $6.9 million of care to the
community, with close to 4,000 patients
receiving care, education and medication
during 41, 416 visits.
In addition to the generous private funding
from individuals, foundations, corporations
and faith-based organizations, this effort was
made possible by more than 400 licensed
clinical and support volunteers, who donated
more than 54,000 hours of their time and
services.
It is fitting that in the year Community
Volunteers in Medicine is celebrating its 20th
anniversary of providing health care, hope
and healing to the uninsured of Chester
County, we are honoring you with PDA’s
2018 Public Service Award.
Accepting this award are Ms. Alberta Landis,
Vice President of Dental Services and Dr. Peter
Thompson, Vice President of Dental Affairs.
CVIM acceptance remarks from Alberta Landis:
Thank you to the Pennsylvania Dental Association for this special recognition
and to our partners and supporters who make our free dental services
possible. Oral health is integral to overall health and the team at CVIM does
a great job educating our patients and doing outreach in the community.
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