Issue date: 9/17/09 Section: News

Those depending on the Kirksville Planned Parenthood for their sexual health services must soon begin to look elsewhere.

The Kirksville Planned Parenthood will close Nov. 11, after serving the community for 38 years, according to a press release from the Tri-Rivers Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a national non-profit organization that offers sexual health services including birth control and STI exams.

Lisa Ecsi Davis, director of education and public affairs at the Tri-Rivers Planned Parenthood, said there are many reasons the clinic is closing.

"When we first opened our doors in 1971, we were one of the few providers of the kind of care that we provide for low and no-income women," Ecsi Davis said. "Now we're one of many providers, so some of it is purely market share. We are seeing more clients who are qualified for free family planning services and are unable to make donations towards the cost of their care so some of it is income."

A shortage of nurse practitioners and lack of donations also factored into the decision, she said.

Ecsi Davis said TTRP has been discussing closing the clinic for awhile, and had to think about the other two Planned Parenthoods in its district, Lake of the Ozarks and Rolla.

"We are channeling our limited

resources towards those other two clinics, so they are continuing to stay open," she said.

The two employees at the Kirksville clinic were notified about the closure in August, and Ecsi Davis said both have other jobs they are pursuing.

"It was a very hard decision to make, it makes us very sad that we have to close our doors, but on the other hand it's the best business decision that we could make at this point," she said.

Ecsi Davis said Planned Parenthood is trying to help patients transfer their records to other care providers in the area.

"We know with some of our clients, it's a matter of getting a pap smear or paying your electric bill so we want them to continue to get care," she said.

Kelsey Cler, president of Students for Choice, said she was sad about the closing. The group, formerly known as Vox, was a student group that worked with Planned Parenthood, assisting with education and volunteering at the clinic.

Cler said the group will undergo several changes now that they are no longer associated with the organization.

"We're going to try to work with the Student Health Center, especially with the issue of birth control, and we'll probably work with the Med Students for Choice at KCOM," Cler said. "Because [Vox] represented Planned Parenthood, we couldn't be political, but this year we're going to try to be a lot more political."

Students for Choice also plans to work with Kirksville High School, but Cler said she was unsure whether the group would work with other local clinics.

Senior Jeni Graves said she has used Planned Parenthood's services since she began at Truman four years ago getting birth control, pelvic exams and Gardasil shots. She said she is now faced with the problem of where to get her birth control.

"I don't use the pill, I use the [Nuva]ring, and the ring has to be refrigerated," Graves said. "They have the ring at Hy-Vee, Wal-Mart, pretty much everywhere, but the ring at Planned Parenthood is $17, the ring at Wal-Mart is $60."

Graves said she's very upset the clinic is closing.

"It's unfathomable that it would be closing," she said. "It's a great resource in the community. I think people are going to miss it once it's gone."

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