Local – Caring – Personal

Brian grew up in Maryland and first ventured to New England for undergraduate studies at Dartmouth. He went to medical school at the University of Maryland and then completed his family medicine residency at Boston Medical Center where he continued to work as a teaching physician. He practices full-spectrum primary care for children and adults. He also provides medication-assisted treatment for substance use disorders with Suboxone. Outside of work, Brian enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, outdoors activities, beekeeping, gardening, and playing music.

Melanie grew up in Maryland where she attended medical school at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and completed her residency at Medstar Franklin Square Family Medicine Residency Program in Baltimore. After residency, Melanie worked as a faculty member and helped to build a new family medicine residency program in Seneca, South Carolina. There she practiced full spectrum family medicine including inpatient and outpatient care and delivering babies, and taught students and residents. Melanie came to Vermont in 2022 with her husband and two girls and quickly fell in love with the state in general and Bristol in particular. She is excited to join the Mountain Community Health team and provide excellent care to patients while pursuing her clinical interests in quality improvement, LGBTQ health, addictions treatment, and integrative medicine.

Breezy Salmonsen, PA-C is delighted to be back in Vermont after spending the last 15 years abroad and in the Western US. She grew up in Beverly, Massachusetts and completed her undergraduate degree at UVM. She received her masters in physician assistant studies at UC Davis and then practiced as a PA at Planned Parenthood in Reno, NV. Her professional interests include reproductive health, gender affirming care and community medicine.

Prior to her career in medicine, she worked on the US/Mexico border advocating for the humane treatment of undocumented immigrants and refugees. She has also guided kayak trips in the San Juan Islands, led educational travel trips in Ecuador, worked at a university in Costa Rica and taught ESL and Spanish in Jackson, Wyoming.

Breezy lives in Richmond with her spouse, their son and mastiff named Noodle. In her free time, she loves growing flowers, mountain biking, baking cookies, surfing in warm water and staying in yurts. She is accepting new patients.

Tonya is doing acute care one or two days a week at MHC. She has been involved at many levels and in different roles in the community health center world in Vermont. She lives in Underhill, has 2 cats and a big farmhouse and barn she has been “bringing back to life”, and enjoys having guests, retreats, and gatherings there. She always has an audiobook queued up for the commute. She graduated from Yale University School of Nursing with her Master’s too many years ago to admit and continues to love learning, traveling, swing dancing, hiking, singing, eating and cooking good food, and cherishes time with her diverse group of friends.

Kate is originally from western New York. She took the long path to medicine, via undergraduate studies in literary arts and Italian studies at Brown University. She completed her post-baccalaureate premedical studies in Buffalo. There, she fell in love with family medicine and its power for individual and community transformation while working as a medical case manager at a refugee service agency. She completed medical school and a family medicine residency at Brown University, where she pursued clinical and research interests in women’s health, global health, and health care for vulnerable populations. Kate is eager to participate in the Addison County community through her work at Mountain Health Center. She enjoys hiking, traveling, reading, yoga, Green Mountain culinary adventures, and spending time with family and friends.

Lindsay Soares-White graduated from the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions in 2008. She has chosen to work in community health centers throughout her career because she shares the belief that health care is a human right and that individual health is interconnected with family, community, and society. Lindsay takes a collaborative approach to the care she provides. She loves learning about people, hearing their stories, and building trusting relationships that help people move toward their health goals. She lives with her partner and toddler in Lincoln, where they spend their days exploring puddles and singing while meandering.

Dr. Wisdom-Behounek grew up in a rural community in Illinois and attended the University of Illinois for medical school, where she had additional specific training in rural medicine.  Residency took her to Columbia, Missouri, where she completed her Family Medicine residency at the University of Missouri.  She has worked in private practice, and in academic medicine teaching medical students in addition to clinical care.  She has additional training and a specialized interest in Lifestyle and Nutritional Medicine to prevent and reverse disease where possible. She loves to travel, recreate outdoors, and write about the research illustrating nature’s positive impact on human health.