FORKS — The Forks Planned Parenthood health center has closed.
Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest closed the office at 231 Lupine Ave. on Nov. 30 as a result of ongoing funding cuts.
Planned Parenthood locations in Oak Harbor and Silverdale will also close by year’s end.
Staffed by two people, the Forks location offered breast and cervical cancer screening and checks for sexually transmitted diseases, said spokeswoman Kristen Glundberg-Prossor.
“For six of 10 patients, that’s the only health care they get,” she said.
It served about 71 patients a year.
Jack Slowriver, area services director for Planned Parenthood, said the organization’s Port Angeles location at 426 E. Eighth St. has seen about six people from Forks since the closure.
Slowriver said the organization is looking at ways to help reduce the cost of the trip and bring some services back to the community.
Glundberg-Prossor said Planned Parenthood is finding it difficult to fund the small, rural locations due to ongoing cuts, including at the state level.
The state has cut nearly $4 million over the past four years for organizations that provide “basic family planning,” she said.
“We hung on as long as we could,” Glundberg-Prossor said.
For questions, phone 800-230-PLAN (7526).
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
