Margaret “Margie” Griesmer made a tremendous difference to thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people in and around Ossining.   

And her legacy continues.

Those of you who live in Ossining are no doubt familiar with the Open Door Family Medical Center.  Located at 165 Main Street, it was the first location of what has become a chain of accredited health centers that serve the un- and underinsured throughout Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Ulster counties.

In 1972, Griesmer was the driving force behind its founding and development, quietly and methodically laboring to bring excellent, low- to no-cost health care to marginalized community members and the working poor.

Born in 1934, Griesmer graduated from the Mercy School of Nursing in Detroit, Michigan.  Marrying soon after graduating, she moved to Ossining with her husband and had four children.

In 1970, the family relocated to Berkeley, California for a year when her husband, an IBM mathematician and researcher, was granted a sabbatical.

While there, Griesmer volunteered at the Berkeley Free Clinic, a self-described “radical volunteer health collective . . . that believes that health care is a fundamental human right.”  Griesmer was inspired by what she saw and determined to replicate the concept in Ossining.

Free health clinics were growing in popularity in the 1960s and early 1970s, thanks in part to the civil rights movement and the War on Poverty.   But when New York State decided that such clinics needed oversight and licensing, many clinics shuttered.  It’s here that Open Door found its niche.  As a registered nurse, Griesmer was uniquely positioned to work with local medical professionals, and get the needed licensing to operate.

The first Open Door clinic was located in the basement of the First Baptist Church at 1 Church Street, Ossining. With an all-volunteer staff (doctors, nurses, technicians) it was only open Tuesday/Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. The waiting room was the Sunday School room, and the patients sat on tiny little chairs waiting for their appointments. 

 That first year, the clinic saw over 1,000 patients. Griesmer reached out to businesses in the community for support, and organizations such as IBM, the Ossining Chamber of Commerce, A.L. Myers and the Junior League of Westchester contributed in various ways to help fit out that first clinic.

The goals were wide-ranging and egalitarian:

“The Ossining Open Door came into being because of an urgent need in Ossining not only to treat the physical illnesses of the underprivileged but to comfort our elderly, counsel our youth, and listen to the lonely.”

Griesmer would be named Executive Director in 1973, a position she held for over 20 years.

In 1976, Open Door moved to 165 Main Street (formerly Hilliker’s Department store) and in 1988, took over the adjacent building at 163 Main Street.  Since then, they’ve hired full time physicians, nurses, technicians, dentists, specialists, social workers, psychologists, started a pre-natal program in collaboration with Phelps Hospital, opened clinics in Mt. Kisco, Brewster, Mamaroneck, Port Chester, Sleepy Hollow, Saugerties and pioneered school-based health centers in nine schools throughout the region.

Griesmer was a visionary with a solid medical background who also happened to excel at relationship building and fundraising. It was a powerful and effective combination.

An excellent judge of people, she filled the ever-expanding Open Door with dedicated professionals who shared her drive to improve and grow the services offered to the community.

In 1998, Griesmer tapped Lindsay Farrell as her successor. A volunteer who started helping out in 1986,  Farrell continues in the CEO position today, carrying on and expanding Margie Griesmer’s vision to make quality health care available to all.

Today Open Door serves over 60,000 patients at seven locations throughout Westchester, Putnam and Ulster counties, with an additional nine school-based health clinics. And, as has always been the case, care is available to anyone — fees are determined on a sliding scale.