Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is temporarily closing three of its four family planning clinics, leaving a significant portion of the organization\u2019s 13,000 patients without medical care in the interim. Planned Parenthood said the closure is the result of a shortage of nurses.<\/p>\n
Planned Parenthood has confirmed that its Downtown Pittsburgh location will close Jan. 23 and its Greensburg location will close Saturday. The Bridgeville clinic closed its doors in December. It\u2019s unclear how long the clinics will remain closed.<\/p>\n
Nearly half a dozen registered nurses and certified nurse practitioners left the organization for other jobs over the last several months, according to Michael J. Gibson, communications director for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania (PPWP). Despite ongoing recruitment efforts, PPWP has been unable to fill those positions, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemand for registered nurses and nursing practitioners is at an all-time high at a time when fewer and fewer are available or looking to move jobs,\u201d Gibson said. <\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the number of vacant positions may sound insignificant, but stressed that since PPWP offices are smaller than the region\u2019s major health providers, each vacancy is felt more significantly by the remaining staff.<\/p>\n
There is not yet a timeline for when PPWP will reopen the three locations, Gibson said. Pittsburgh\u2019s abortion services will remain available. But the organization\u2019s Johnstown office is the only location that will be fully operational.<\/p>\n
Planned Parenthood will continue to offer telehealth services during the closures for prescriptions and referrals. But patients seeking exams, STI testing and other care will have to find other providers.<\/p>\n
Alliyson Feldmann, chair of the Upper St. Clair Democratic Committee and a reproductive health advocate, was a patient at PPWP\u2019s Bridgeville office. She said the clinic\u2019s closure is a major loss for her community, even if it is temporary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was devastated,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard enough to get into a doctor right now, let alone to find an OB-GYN that you\u2019re comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n
While most Planned Parenthood patients are low-income, Feldmann said she switched from a UPMC provider to the PPWP Bridgeville office because she wanted to support the organization\u2019s work in her community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI switched all my care over to the [clinic] in Bridgeville and sincerely have not had that level of care \u2026 in my entire life,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a female patient, I was so happy with the kindness of the staff, the thoroughness, the comfort and ease \u2026 to ask questions and get an appointment there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But now that her doctor is no longer seeing patients, Feldmann is scrambling to find a new provider for her regular mammogram.<\/p>\n
A massive spending bill passed by federal lawmakers in July<\/a> included a provision to defund Planned Parenthood and prohibit Medicaid funding for the organization and those like it for one year. A federal judge in Boston overturned an earlier injunction on the funding cuts last week, allowing them to proceed while a lawsuit<\/a> is ongoing. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is a named plaintiff in the lawsuit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nationwide, Planned Parenthood faces a precarious future as Medicaid funding becomes less reliable. Gibson noted that the organization\u2019s unstable federal support paired with changing laws nationwide surrounding reproductive health care are obstacles to recruiting new nurses.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s much harder to convince a nurse to come to sexual and reproductive care from oncology when oncology isn’t having nearly as many regulatory changes made unilaterally on them,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n