This story originally appeared on KQED.org
Facing a budget in the red and a loss of patients, UC San Francisco officials plan to close a beloved family planning clinic for low-income teens and young adults in the city’s Mission district.
The New Generation Health Center, which has provided free reproductive health care for two decades to patients as young as 13, is scheduled to close its doors for good on July 31.
Health providers say the decision could imperil at-risk Latino and African American youth who already like and trust New Generation’s confidential and prompt services. Concerned residents and others say they want to find funds, or pressure UCSF, to keep the clinic open.
Over the last five years, the clinic’s finances have been decimated by decreases in grant revenue and a potentially irreversible loss in patients, says Dr. Rebecca Jackson, a UCSF professor of obstetrics and gynecology and supervisor at New Generation.
“This was an awful, awful, heart-wrenching decision to have to make,” says Jackson. “New Gen is a very special place. They really take their mission seriously, which is empowering young people to make decisions in a world and in an age where it’s hard to have a choice.”
Jackson and her staff have been working for weeks to transition New Generation’s 2,200 patients to nearby clinics with similar services, such as Mission Neighborhood Health Center and 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic.
Residents Vow to Fight for Clinic
The news of the closure did not sit well with several Mission residents, students, health providers and youth advocates at a forum with UCSF officials last week.
A funeral-like mood pervaded a packed auditorium to discuss the clinic’s closure. Jackson and Dr. Sue Carlisle, a UCSF Medical School vice dean, spoke about the financial reasons for the closure and efforts to ensure all patients are matched with “best fit” clinics in the area.
Still, speaker after speaker called on a new effort to save New Generation, not shutter it.
“What we have to do as a community is not take this and stand together and fight back. We need to hold UCSF accountable,” said Ronnishia Johnson, who grew up in the nearby Bayview neighborhood. “From my perspective this is nothing but them turning their backs on the community.”
Nataly Ortiz, who become a mom as a teen, says it’s hard for local Latina and undocumented teens to get same or next-day appointments for reproductive health in clinics other than New Generation.
“Sometimes it’s a very emotional case of being scared of being pregnant at a very young age,” said Ortiz, who refers patients to New Generation through her work at a neighborhood nonprofit.
“They need a clinic like this. So for you to take it away, it’s just saying our community doesn’t matter, the people that benefit from this clinic don’t matter. But I’m here to tell you, we do matter!” Ortiz said to UCSF officials.
Affordable Care Act ‘Hurting’ Family Planning Clinics
Ironically, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is partly to blame for New Generation’s troubles, says Jackson.
Under the ACA, more people have become eligible for Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for people who are low-income. Many New Generation clients are choosing to get their reproductive services addressed with their new doctor or medical clinic that handles all their health needs. Other family planning and specialty clinics are also feeling this squeeze.
“For a lot of people, it’s more convenient to get that [reproductive] care at the same time they are getting the rest of their health care,” Jackson says.
Still, she added, “a small subset” of patients want to keep reproductive health care separate.
One of those patients is Rocio Navarro, a student at Abraham Lincoln High School.
Based on the quote, it doesn’t appear that Miss Johnson feels that the clinic is a ‘beloved’ but rather something she and the community are ‘owed’. It’s disappointing that the ‘community’ is always the victim in these articles, rather than empowered groups that work with others to find solutions. Rather, the ‘community’ is just hapless and angry.