Local Clinic Spared in Ongoing Planned Parenthood Turmoil

A Hayward reproductive health clinic previously slated for closure will reopen this spring under the management of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, officials said Thursday.

The B Street clinic, which serves much of the surrounding community, was to have been consolidated with a clinic in East Oakland. The consolidation could have hit the unincorporated communities—where teen birth rates are the highest in the county—particularly hard. 

But that plan, along with the health center itself, appears to have dissolved after Golden Gate Community Health, formerly Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, shut its doors Friday over continued financial turmoil. 

"After thoroughly researching and examining our options, we made the difficult decision to close our health centers," Therese Wilson, the organization's president and CEO, said in a statement Friday. 

Golden Gate Community Health had operated  former Planned Parenthood clinics across the Bay Area since last summer, when the chapter was disaffiliated from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America over administrative and financial woes. Until this month, it offered reproductive health care services, including special services for teens and sexual health education to more than 54,000 patients annually throughout the region. 

The local clinic closures come as Planned Parenthood is fighting for its life in Washington, DC.

In February, the House of Representatives voted to eliminate funding for the health care provider, prompting local congresswoman Jackie Speier make an impassioned speech in the organization's defense (see video).

After Golden Gate Community Health announced it would close last week, neighboring Planned Parenthood affiliates intensified efforts to carve up its former service area, with management of Alameda and San Mateo counties transferring to Mar Monte. 

"We’ve been actively workng in both of those counties to expand services," said Guadalupe Rodriguez, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. "We’re definitely making sure that any patients from these health centers have a place to go to get care."

Though Rodriguez couldn't confirm how many Alameda County clinics it will open in the coming months, she indicated that plans are in the works to reopen the B Street site this spring. 

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, based in San Jose, currently offers reproductive health services in 29 mid-California counties and 13 northern Nevada counties.

Anyone in need of services is encouraged to call the Planned Parenthood Mar Monte Resource Center at 877-855-7526, or visit www.ppmarmonte.org to find their closest health center.