Local Doctor Selected as Semi-Finalist in Contest

	Photo by Staff file photo by Skip Lawrence Dr. Bonita Portier at her office in Emmitsburg.

That's why she's counting on winning a place in the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame, a contest that carries a $10,000 cash prize, plus a $5,000 donation to the winner's favorite charity. Portier recently was selected as one of 100 semi-finalists, a group that will be narrowed to 10, with the public chosing the top winner through the Internet.

"I could use all the help I can get," said the doctor who answered her own phone at the clinic last week. "Everyone else is out at lunch. We have 30 people scheduled for this afternoon, so they need their nourishment."

Sometimes, the clinic that has been called "the Miracle on Main Street," gets lunch, cookies and pies dropped off by grateful members of the community.

Emmitsburg Osteopathic Primary Care Center, 121-123 W. Main St., accepts patients regardless of their ability to pay.

"Our goal is to be all about the patients," Portier said. Additionally, the clinic is a learning place for students and nurse practitioners to gain experience and mentoring.

The doctor knows firsthand about being poor, but still having a dream. One of six children, Portier made it through college, vowing she would do what she could for others who are struggling. At the age of 29, married and with three children, she decided to go to medical school, finally getting accepted at age 43 into the West Virginia Osteopathic School of Medicine. She graduated in 1991, becoming board certified in internal medicine.

Four years later, after working at a local practice, Portier and two of her friends started a nonprofit clinic out of the Gettysburg (Pa.) Hospital Health Center in Thurmont.

"Growing up, my family didn't have health care. I know what it's like when people don't respect you. I wanted to build a healthcare center where patients felt like the most important person in the world, regardless of their financial situation," Portier told The News-Post in a 2007 interview after she had been named Maryland Osteopathic Physician of the Year.

As the operation grew, the clinic was moved in 2001 to Emmitsburg in side-by-side buildings constructed in 1790 and 1885. Portier said renovations have started to provide a psychiatrist's office, although the person has yet to be hired, as well as a "shoebox size" cancer care unit.

She said winning the Energizer prize would go a long way towards meeting her goals.

According to a news release, the Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame was created in 2006 "to recognize the unsung heroes who inspire others with their perseverance and motivation, who live their lives with the same enthusiasm and can-do attitude as the Energizer Bunny."