Planned Parenthood announced that it will close the Newport Health Center on February 24 and look for alternatives to affordable reproductive care and other medical services for patients in the region.
However, the closure does not affect the abortion service, as the Newport Clinic did not provide the abortion service.
The nearest Planned Parenthood Clinics are located in St. Johnsbury and Hyde Park, each about 45 minutes away.
Kai Williams, senior vice president of planned parent-child relationships in northern New England, said in a statement that the organization faced the challenge of providing care to New England, which was exacerbated by the pandemic.
“We are redistributing resources because of the national crisis of limited resources and access to assisted reproductive technology,” she said.
Asked for details on these challenges, spokesman Eileen Sullivan said, “The challenges are complex and often mutual, including difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff, low patient numbers, facility needs, and financial sustainability. It is related to “.”
The planned parent-child relationship expands the time the St. Johnsbury Clinic is open and plans to add an abortion program in the future, Williams said. The Newport facility provides an abortion referral, but does not take steps in the field.
Patients at Newport Clinic can also receive several services via telemedicine, including contraception, emergency contraception, HIV services, and general health care, according to an announcement on the clinic’s website. Abortion referrals and LGBTQ + medical services are not available online.
Brian Chaput, a former patient at the Newport Clinic, said the planned parent-child relationship closure would be particularly burdensome for people without transportation, such as adolescents.
“My concern is for low-income earners who don’t have easy access to one-hour, two-hour round-trip driving and don’t mind spending time there,” he said. He found it in terms of the planned parent-child relationship appearing to have a “lack of understanding or awareness of the situation.”
“Have you ever driven Eden in the winter?” He said. “Imagine a teenage girl accessing your service trying to find someone to take you (to St. Johnsbury) unnoticed by your parents.”
Chaput is also concerned about the need for a discretionary and unjudgmental environment, especially for young people and LGBTQ + individuals. He introduced a young gay man to a planned parent-child relationship and took PrEP medication for HIV prophylaxis without hesitation.
“With the people of Planned Parenthood, there’s nothing shocking them because they work together all day long,” he said. “It’s a much more comfortable situation.”
According to the Planned Parenthood website, North Country Obstetrics and Gynecology, a branch of North Country Hospital, offers several assisted reproductive technology services, including surgical abortion.
Clinic member Dr. Peter Stewart said he could probably handle the burden on patients at the Newport Clinic, but its affordability and discretion allowed the clinic to cover different segments of the population.
“If my 16-year-old daughter wants to get oral contraceptives and doesn’t want to let me know, she can go to the planned parent-child relationship and pay $ 5 for the pill. Who is it? We never know because we don’t even have insurance, “he said. “When someone comes to my office, it gets my parents’ insurance, right?”
Planned Parenthood has contraceptive samples and condom baskets available for those who need them, but his office does not.
Stewart plans to meet with a planned parent-child relationship within a few weeks to see if North Country has options to help those patients, although it is “very preliminary.” He said he was.
“When I talked to the Planned Parenthood people, I said,’Our role is to take care of the community, right? This is our view, but that’s what we want to do.” He said.
Do not miss it. Sign up here to get VTDigger’s weekly email about hospitals, health trends, insurance, and state health policy in Vermont.
