San Benito County won’t have a satellite Planned Parenthood office starting Aug. 15, meaning local teens and migrant workers will have to travel to nearby Gilroy, Salinas and Watsonville to get the same services.
“We were never told a reason,” said Monika Hassler, a physician assistant at the Planned Parenthood San Benito Health Center, who has worked at the clinic since the site opened about seven years ago. “We were basically told it was a very hard decision.”
The corporate office did not return calls about the nature of the clinic’s closing by deadline.
“I do believe it was financial but it would have been nice if they gave us a concrete answer,” Hassler said.
The closure of the Planned Parenthood San Benito Health Center follows the shuttering of doors at the Greenfield clinic, a smaller site that served a large population of migrant farm workers in the Salinas Valley. Hassler worries the closing of the San Benito satellite site might be part of trend to close smaller clinics and consolidate services with the organization’s larger sites. She is also concerned that teens and migrant farm workers might not have the transportation to get to a clinic in another town.
“The smaller satellite clinics, who are destined to reach the population who might have trouble getting to a big center, are being shut down,” said Hassler.
The clinic in downtown Hollister on the corner of Seventh and Monterey streets already has a “For Sale by Owner” sign hanging from the porch railing. The health center looks like the neighboring houses, except for a few strategically placed signs on the lawn and the front porch.
Outside the clinic’s front steps, a bright green sign advertises walk-in appointments for pregnancy testing, birth control, HIV and STD testing, emergency contraception and breast and cervical cancer screenings. They also offer abortion services, which make the center controversial to pro-life groups.
Word that the center is closing is still getting out.
“This is the first that I’ve heard about it,” said Amy Denney Zuniga, the reverend of the neighboring St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. “I’m sorry to hear that they’re closing because that’s a very important service to the community.”
The Episcopal Church recognizes a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy but accepts it only in cases of rape or incest – or when the mother’s life is at risk, according to Pew Research Center, a non-partisan think tank agency based in Washington, D.C.
In response to the closing of the Planned Parenthood San Benito Health Center, the Hazel Hawkins Mabie Health Care Center will be adding additional hours to its schedule so that the center can accommodate more patients for obstetrics and women’s issues.
“I heard that they were closing but I don’t know why,” said Dr. Kevin Herrick, the clinical director of Hazel Hawkins Rural Health Clinic and the chief of staff for Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. “I think you can say any time a medical facility closes in an area you’re going to have displaced patients and they’re going to, unfortunately, be trying to find other doctors to care for them.”
The Mabie Health Care Center is currently open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Starting Sept. 8, the center will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesday to give women a chance to see health care providers after work.
Another licensed medical clinic in town, the Hollister Pregnancy Center, offers some of the same services offered by Planned Parenthood – including pregnancy testing, STD testing and options counseling – but the center does not provide abortion services.
“Well, because they provide abortions and we don’t, that’s a bit of a disconnect between their philosophy, and the things that they provide and the things that we provide,” said Angie Roland, the Hollister Pregnancy Center’s executive director. “I just feel like there are alternatives and it’s a good thing for women to know all their options.”
For Hassler, who has worked at Planned Parenthood for more than 30 years, the news is still shocking.
“I personally was very, very anxious to have these services here in San Benito County. It was like a personal sense of triumph to have these services here,” said Hassler. “Since we’re a growing community, I didn’t dream they’d close us down.”
More Information:
Hazel Hawkins expanding hours to fill health care need:
Starting Sept. 8, the Hazel Hawkins Mabie Health Care Center, located at 991 San Juan Road, will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesday to see patients for obstetrics and well women issues. The center is currently open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Hollister Pregnancy Center services:
The center located at 483 Fifth Street is a licensed medical clinic that provides some of the same services as Planned Parenthood including pregnancy testing, STD testing and options counseling. The non-profit organization also provides limited ultra sounds and baby and maternity clothing. They do not provide abortion services. The center is open Monday through Thursday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
