A new Planned Parenthood facility that opened Jan. 11 located on Governors Highway in Flossmoor. It’s open to all women and men, insurance or not.
Health Center Manager Nicole Herron works closely with the physicians at Planned Parenthood, and she said that she thinks the facility will “create new opportunities for women in this area.”
“We have numerous patients from the south suburbs. Now they will be able to receive care closer to home,” Herron said. “We are able to continue being a resource for those who otherwise would not have access to quality and affordable services.”
Manager of External Affairs Julie Lynn has worked at this organization for six years and said that she doesn’t think people should have to drive far for healthcare.
“We don’t think anyone should have to travel to get quality healthcare. Healthcare should be accessible, affordable, and the highest quality, which is what we provide at Planned Parenthood,” Lynn said.
Herron has worked for this organization for nine years.
“We offer a multitude of services ranging from cervical cancer screening, STI screening and treatment, pregnancy testing and options counseling, clinical breast exams, birth control, permanent sterilization for men and women, etc,” Herron said.
Senior Raina Bailey is involved with the online board for Planned Parenthood’s social media. They meet once a month on Michigan Avenue to discuss community organizing.
“In the upcoming month, I’m going to be doing an event at the Women’s march in Chicago. We’ll be passing out flyers, giving out buttons, and other little things to promote the campaign,” Bailey said.
Bailey likes the idea of connecting teens to more health opportunities. The most well-known health options Planned Parenthood provides is the most controversial – abortion. Bailey expresses that working for this organization can be dangerous due to the violence some protestors have condoned before.
“It’s extremely stressful and frankly quite dangerous [to be an employee at Planned Parenthood] because there’s a lot of hatred and showing of violence toward the organization,” she said.
This is due to that fact that many people don’t know all the other resources it offers to teens. Lynn is passionate about all the other beneficial aspects it provides.
Most people know about the range of reproductive health services that we provide including birth control, STI testing and treatment, HIV testing and prevention, transgender hormone therapy, cancer screenings and more, but Planned Parenthood is also a respected leader in educating Americans about reproductive and sexual health,” Lynn said.