UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge received a Title X grant from the Planned Parenthood Council of Iowa.

With this grant, UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge is introducing a new service, Trinity Family Planning, which will open on November 18.

UnityPoint Health — Trinity Family Planning will be located at 802 Kenyon Road, Suite 2C — next to the UnityPoint OB/GYN clinic. The clinic will be open every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Evening hours will be available once a month from noon to 6:30 p.m.

“Trinity Family Planning will help fill the gaps in care that some community members face by providing important reproductive health care services such as health education, wellness testing and screenings, and options birth control”, said Leah Glasgo, president of UnityPoint Health – Fort Dodge. “Access to these important health care resources is essential for communities like Fort Dodge and surrounding rural towns.

Trinity Family Planning will provide gender-inclusive reproductive health services to individuals of all ages – from adolescents to older adults – providing education and resources on sexual health, birth control and pregnancy planning.

Dr. Abby Sexton, UnityPoint Clinic OB/GYN — Fort Dodge, will serve as medical director of Trinity Family Planning. In addition to serving as a provider at UnityPoint Clinic Kenyon Road – Family Medicine, Bobbi Thacker, advanced nurse practitioner, will provide care at Trinity Family Planning.

In 2023, the FPCI health center network welcomed more than 21,500 patients during nearly 33,000 family planning visits.

Services include:

• Health education: Prevention of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS; the impact of lifestyle choices on reproductive health and outcomes; abstinence; family planning methods; importance of preventive health examinations.

• Wellness tests and screenings: birth control exams; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections; cancer screenings, including Pap tests and breast exams; pregnancy diagnosis and advice.

• Birth control options: offer different contraceptive methods, as well as natural planning.

Costs for Trinity Family Planning’s services are based on a person’s income and ability to pay. All patients are welcome, regardless of insurance or ability to pay. The clinic will have team members available to discuss all financing options available to those who need it.

“The Title X grant helps alleviate financial barriers that prevent some community members from receiving these important health services” Glasgo said. “We want everyone to have access to reproductive health care, regardless of their financial ability. »

All care provided at Trinity Family Planning follows HIPAA guidelines and offers optional confidential billing. If patients wish to share information with a family member, such as a spouse or parent, they will need to sign a release of information form.

The FPCI Title X program is a federally funded program created to provide affordable birth control and reproductive health care to people who cannot afford these services on their own. Services provided include contraceptive education and management, breast and cervical cancer screening, sexually transmitted infection screening and treatment, and pregnancy diagnosis and counseling. Title X services do not include termination of pregnancy as a method of family planning.

For more information or to make an appointment at the Trinity Family Planning clinic, call 515-574-6650 after November 18.