PORT ANGELES — Family Planning of Clallam County will become a part of Seattle-based Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.
Family Planning finalized the decision Monday. It has been approved by boards of both organizations.
All of the group’s family planning clinics — in Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks — will be run by Planned Parenthood, but patients shouldn’t notice a difference, said Jack Slowriver, executive director of Family Planning of Clallam County.
“Our clients won’t notice a change, probably,” Slowriver said.
“Most of the change is in the back office and through our organizational capacity.”
The organization should be fully in control by the end of the year and will evaluate the services currently offered, Slowriver said.
Slowriver said the change was motivated by changing standards within clinics and the better resources available through Planned Parenthood.
“With electronic medical records becoming the standard, it becomes increasingly difficult to operate as a freestanding medical provider, and we can benefit from the economy of scale that Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest offers,” Slowriver said.
The clinic served 3,448 “unduplicated” — meaning individual — clients with 5,490 clinical visits in 2009 and gave lessons and materials at Port Angeles, Sequim, Forks and Cape Flattery school districts and the Quileute Tribal School — all focusing on pregnancy and disease prevention, Slowriver said.
Hours and clinic locations and staffing are to remain the same for now, Slowriver said.
“This action will ensure that the women, men and teens of Clallam County have continued access to the same great services they’ve been receiving from [Family Planning], and we can economize by stretching administrative resources offered by [Planned Parenthood],” Slowriver said.
“Our decision is motivated by a deep commitment to ensure that vital reproductive health care and education remain affordable and enhanced in our community.”
The action of reorganizing is not uncommon throughout the nation as a result of environmental and economical trends, said Planned Parenthood and Family Planning in a joint statement.
“We’re delighted to partner with Family Planning of Clallam County, a much beloved and vital community health provider,” said Chris Charbonneau, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest.
“The long-term benefit of this decision will be a more comprehensive and effective delivery of affordable high-quality reproductive health care to more people in our communities.”
The organization will continue to focus on prevention and health, the statement said.
“Ninety-five percent of [Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest’s] services are related to prevention — including education, contraception, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment,” it said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
