BY JULIA NGUYEN | June 23, 2022
We all want to live a healthy and fulfilled life. For over 60 years, Planned Parenthood California Central Coast has been stepping up to provide local residents with opportunities and services for a healthier life.
The tri-county organization provides both women and men with health centers designed to address social and financial barriers faced by under-resourced communities including cost, transportation, lack of health insurance, and limited quality care in their area.
Planned Parenthood California Central Coast patients are offered services in accessible areas with weekend hours, online appointment scheduling and telehealth, multilingual staff, and interpretation services. They also offer financial assistance.
“We are a provider of high-quality affordable reproductive health services including sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, birth control, abortion, gender-affirming care, breast and cervical cancer screening along with many other services to address the need of our community,” said Jenna Tosh, their President & CEO.
“Our vision is a future where all people have an equitable opportunity to experience health and wellness including high quality sexual and reproductive health care, provided with respect and without judgment.”
Jenna joined the Central Coast affiliate after serving as President & CEO of Planned Parenthood in Orlando, Florida. She’s been active with the Planned Parenthood organization since 2004.
In the past year, sexually transmitted infections have increased across the country. Santa Barbara County saw high numbers of transmitted infections including gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia. According to the Santa Barbara County Public Health report, Latinx communities are disproportionately affected by unintended pregnancies, STIs, and HIV.
With support from the Santa Barbara Foundation and the Tri-Counties Blood Bank Fund, Planned Parenthood worked to expand its Promotorxs program to provide sex education to residents in Santa Barbara County, with an emphasis on risk reduction and safety.
In light of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, Planned Parenthood is mobilizing by bringing together local residents that support access to essential services.
“Following the leaked Supreme Court opinion indicating the impending overturning of Roe v. Wade, we rallied in the streets of Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and San Luis Obispo to raise awareness for women’s rights and equal access to safe health care, including abortion rights,” said Jenna.
“Now that the Supreme Court ruling is final, we are stepping up to provide more care to patients than ever, including those traveling to California from other states. This is a health care crisis- we are committed to providing the care that people need and fighting back against laws that restrict people’s ability to make their own healthcare decisions.”
For more on Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, visit www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-california-central-coast
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