Planned Parenthood has new location, more space

The Virginia League for Planned Parenthood moves to a new location next week, increasing space at a time when the agency's clinic is busier than ever.

The new site at 201 N. Hamilton St. has about twice the space of the old location on Floyd Avenue, the agency's home for the past eight years.

Paulette McElwain, Planned Parenthood's president and CEO, said more people are seeking care at the clinic, including some who have recently lost health insurance.

The clinic offers a range of reproductive health services, including birth control, abortions and prenatal care, but also provides care for women who need a follow-up procedure after getting abnormal results when screened for cervical cancer.

"We saw 12 percent more people last quarter," McElwain said. "We really try to fill the gaps where there are gaps in health care for women in our community."

Another role they have taken on in recent years is that of prenatal care provider for low-income, uninsured women who are ineligible for Medicaid.

"That tends to be Latinas," McElwain said. "They were not getting care anywhere else, and they were showing up at the emergency room having not seen a doctor for their entire pregnancy.

"There was a really high complication rate. The women in our program have complication rates as low or lower than women with insurance now. And it was double or triple," McElwain said.

The new clinic is projected to provide care to 12,000 patients this year, including those seeking pregnancy testing, emergency contraception and other birth control, and sexually transmitted disease testing, which is offered for men and women.

The 11,000-square-foot building has eight exam rooms and two procedure rooms. It cost $3.5 million to purchase and renovate the building, McElwain said. The paid staff includes a physician and three nurse practitioners.

The capital campaign is ongoing, led by Susan Davenport and Mary Zayde "Bucci" Zeugner, both longtime supporters of the agency and past board members. The goal is to raise another $1 million.

"My mother was involved with Planned Parenthood 50 years ago when the agency was small and starting up," Zeugner said. Birth-control information was not widely available then, so there were many women who had more children than they could take care of.

"Now we have information about birth control. Some people still don't know how not to get pregnant," Zeugner said. "Things have not changed a whole lot, though they have changed."

Planned Parenthood provides a lot of birth control -- from basic pills to long-term contraception like IUDs that last for up to five years. McElwain said three years ago it might get 20 requests a year for IUDs; now they get about 20 a month.

McElwain said its fees are a fraction of what a patient would pay in the community.

At Planned Parenthood, the fee for an IUD is about $500 -- a big chunk up front, but over five years about $9 a month.

McElwain said the added space will allow them to offer educational programs, and they are looking at the possibility of offering vasectomies for men who want that service.

A ribbon cutting will be held Tuesday, with patient appointments at the new site starting Wednesday.

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or .