The de Blasio Administration, along with NYC Health + Hospitals and Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC), announced today a new partnership to increase access to contraception services to nearly 3,000 adolescents in the City. Through this partnership, NYC Health + Hospitals and PPNYC will train clinicians to provide family planning services, contraception counseling and same day access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) to students at six school-based health centers run by the public health care system. This new partnership builds on the City’s commitment to increase access to access to birth control at all 11 of the city’s hospitals and six ambulatory care centers, making LARCs and other contraceptive methods available to those who request them during their primary care visit.
Six NYC Health + Hospitals clinicians will participate in the PPNYC two-week training program that prepares health care providers to work with adolescents. The training curriculum covers sexual and reproductive health care, comprehensive contraceptive counseling and management, and the best practices for intrauterine device (IUD) insertion and removal. The training will conclude in August to ensure providers are prepared to offer these services before the new school year begins. The training will cost $51,600, and will be funded through the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
“In New York City, we hold this truth to be self-evident: reproductive rights are human rights,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Our public hospitals are committed to providing New Yorkers with the health and reproductive care they need, and this expanded plan broadens our reach to ensure more New Yorkers have access to contraception.”
“As people across the country face restricted access to reproductive health services, cities must do everything they can to protect this basic right,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray. “This partnership will ensure that more young people in our city are equipped with the information and resources they need to make good decisions and care properly for themselves.”
“New York City is committed to protecting the rights of women and families to access reproductive health care,” said Dr. Herminia Palacio, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. “I’m pleased to see this collaboration between Planned Parenthood and NYC Health + Hospitals that will further expand services, ensure effective contraceptive methods are readily available, and increase accessibility to reproductive health care in the places women, including young women, seek care.”
“Our health system is committed to helping all those of reproductive age to access an array of health care services that can help them fully exercise their reproductive rights. We are proud to partner with Planned Parenthood of NYC to build this cadre of specially trained clinicians who can help adolescents receive counseling and contraception options at our school-based health clinics,” said Dr. Machelle Allen, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals. “As one of the largest providers of family planning services in NYC, we are committed to working together with our sister agencies and organizations to meet the growing demand for sensible family planning options at all life stages.”
“Every New Yorker deserves access to the birth control they need to build their own future and make the sexual and reproductive health decisions that are best for themselves and their lives,” said Laura McQuade, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood of NYC. “As one of the city’s leading sexual and reproductive health care providers, Planned Parenthood of New York City applauds the de Blasio administration and NYC Health + Hospitals for advancing this important initiative to increase birth control access for New Yorkers. We also want to thank First Lady Chirlane McCray for her leadership during these challenging times. With our sexual and reproductive futures threatened like never before, we are grateful for New York City’s partnership and its commitment to our reproductive freedom.”
“It is a priority for NYC Health + Hospitals to foster partnerships that will support our mission to provide comprehensive and high quality care to all New Yorkers, without exception” said Theodore G. Long, MD, MHS, Vice President for Ambulatory Care at NYC Health + Hospitals. “We are excited about this partnership with Planned Parenthood of NYC because it will support the training of our clinicians to provide critically important reproductive health services to every New Yorker, including our younger residents.”
NYC Health + Hospitals operates more than 20 school-based health clinics under its federally qualified network of ambulatory care clinic network called Gotham Health. The centers serve students regardless of their insurance status. The centers serve as a student’s primary care provider or complement services provided by an outside primary care physician. The health centers offer case management of chronic health problems, preventive health screenings and counseling, medication administration, health education, and referrals to other specialty services. They also provide scheduled and walk-in services when school is in session and 24-hour telephone coverage to assist with out-of-school problems.
The new family planning and LARC services will be available at these school-based health centers:
- I.S. 49 William Gaynor Intermediate School (Williamsburg)
- Grand Street Campus (Williamsburg)
- Bushwick Educational Campus (Bushwick)
- Springfield Gardens High School (Queens)
- Frederick Douglass Academy (Harlem)
A leader in Reproductive Health Rights
NYC Health + Hospitals is a significant teaching hospital system for reproductive health, including family planning, contraceptive care and abortion care in its residency training programs – offering such services regardless of income, immigration or insurance status. The health system’s diverse, trained physicians offer a stigma and judgement-free environment, where patients are comfortable and know they are getting the best care.
Family planning services allow New Yorkers to have their desired number and spacing of children by offering contraceptive services and pregnancy testing and counseling. Many different types of birth control are offered at NYC Health + Hospital facilities, including, the pill, the patch, the ring, Depo-Provera (“the shot”), and condoms. LARC are methods of birth control that provide effective contraception for an extended period of time without requiring further action on the user’s part. They include injections, IUDs or implants. Emergency contraception, also known as the “morning after pill,” is also available. Emergency contraception can be used within three days of having unprotected sex.
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org
Since 1916, Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) has been an advocate for and provider of sexual and reproductive health services and education for New Yorkers. Providing more than 100,000 patient visits annually, PPNYC’s health care centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island offer sexual and reproductive health services, including gynecological care, birth control, cancer screening, pregnancy testing, abortion, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, HIV prevention, testing and counseling, transgender hormone therapy, and vasectomy. Through a threefold mission of clinical services, education, and advocacy, PPNYC brings better health and more fulfilling lives to each new generation of New Yorkers. As a voice for reproductive freedom, PPNYC supports legislation and policies to ensure that all New Yorkers will have access to the full range of reproductive health care services and information.
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