In the “Whole Earth Catalog”, Mark read about a January 1972 gathering in Washington, D.C. for people interested in forming a free clinic. Based on the survey of low-income neighborhoods in Middletown and inspired by his experiences at the conference, Mark set out to start a free clinic in Middletown.
Many Wesleyan students played key roles in the early years of CHC: Ruth Guttmann, Ann Nugent, Marcie Rein, Joe Haddad, Steve Weissman, and Rebecca Ramsey, to name a few.