Planned Parenthood to open new office
By MICHAEL ANICH, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
JOHNSTOWN - Officials of Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson say they're excited about next week's move of their local office from Gloversville to Johnstown, which will double its space for programs and services.
"We open here on Tuesday," Planned Parenthood Director of Communications Linda Scharf said Tuesday during a media tour of the new 400 N. Perry St. office.
Planned Parenthood is moving from its longtime clinic at 257 Kingsboro Ave., Gloversville, to the 4,000-square-foot former Bike Works building across the street from the Johnstown Reformed Church.
Last year, Planned Parenthood had about 3,000 visits by 1,500 patients at the Gloversville site. The organization expects at least as many if not more visits to the new office, Scharf said.
The new office will open next week for patient services, she said, and Planned Parenthood is planning a formal grand opening for the public from 4 to 6 p.m. Sept. 22.
She said the new phone number for Planned Parenthood's local office, starting Tuesday, will be 736-1911, and the phone lines were tripled.
Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson also recently opened a new clinic in the KEM Plaza on Route 30 in Amsterdam.
Paul Drisgula, its chief executive officer, said the health centers it operates in in 12 counties in this region of New York state are well accepted.
"I think the image of Planned Parenthood has changed," Drisgula said. "It used to be that we were an abortion provider."
"There are no plans to provide abortion services at the Johnstown site," Scharf said. Abortions also were not performed at the Gloversville site.
Drisgula said Scharf has been involved with local physicians and schools, including Fulton-Montgomery Community College.
"We've been quite welcomed there," Drisgula said. "At the college level, there's been some interest in services for all the students."
During the tour, Drisgula and Scharf said Planned Parenthood has retained much of the original brickwork, wide-plank wood flooring, and architectural highlights of the 110-year-old building, which used to be a produce warehouse.
He said the building renovation project cost about $500,000, which was mostly paid for through Planned Parenthood fundraising. The building is fully handicapped accessible, he said.
The office has a nursing station that opens into medical offices, two labs, an area for security panels, counseling offices and a firewall. There will be three active exam rooms, with a possibility of a fourth in the future.
The tour also showed off an area of the facility where Planned Parenthood board meetings will be conducted starting in September.
"It should be busy immediately," Scharf said of the facility.
The new health center will include a fee assessment office that will help patients navigate their finances and health care coverage. Scharf said that office will work with Medicaid patients, which will help "take the pressure off" the Fulton County Department of Social Services.
Drisgula said 40 percent of the building hasn't been renovated yet, but the organization plans to lease that space to another occupant. The Gloversville property is still owned by Planned Parenthood.
The office will provide sexual assault support services information and counseling appointments and it has a private entrance.
Scharf said Planned Parenthood centers are for both women and men and they are not only for crisis intervention. She said patients can get annual exams, cancer screenings, birth control, HIV tests and other services.
For more information, call 1-800-230-7526 or see www.ppmhchoices.org.
Michael Anich covers Fulton County and Johnstown. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com.
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homesweetsacandaga
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08-22-08 11:54 PM
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Consider the source. You accuse Mr. Drisgula of mis-statement when you have no idea what the entire quote contained. Heavy on the editing pen is the LH. His point was moreso what the public's perception of PP was, not a mission statement or complete list of services. At any rate, as an advocate you certainly have a bias. Any special interst group does. Correct me if I'm wrong but the majority of your client base is receiving government-funded medical assistance or discounted insurance based upon income. PP does what it can with the funding they work with. Their care is not substandard, it is what the majority of their patients can afford while still allowing PP a functional operations budget. You keep confusing the business and clinical aspects of PP and accusing them of shortcomings in one area without recognizing the limitations in another.
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momof4
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08-22-08 4:31 PM
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Think it through- I didn't imply PP is the only abortion provider/referral option, nor did I say that is why their standard of care is actually quite marginal. I simply pointed out the error in Mr D's comment. Further, as an institution, PP's care is marginal, simply by how the business is run. Of course employees of PP believe in their service and level of care; an objective perspective exposes the deficiencies. As an advocate, professionally, for healthcare for the underserved/uninsured, I cannot in good conscience endorse their business philosophy or their care standards. The community deserves better.
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Ernie9
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08-22-08 3:58 PM
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Onesies2 - If you don't like my opinion you can either ignore me or kiss my rear end. BTW you don't know me so don't call me Big Ern.
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Ernie9
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08-22-08 3:54 PM
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m011ys, you are still a moron even though the L-H deleted my post. I repeat, there is no reason to get pregnant if you don't want to. Anyone who does is either too ignorant or too lazy to do the right thing. DELETE THIS L-H
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homesweetsacandaga
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08-22-08 3:33 PM
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Hey Mom of 4, there are many other professional OBGYN's in the capital area that provide abortion. Many of them are leaders in their field and serve the public exceptionally well. Those same doctors believe in a woman's right to choose and therefore provide the service. Just because PP provides options that include referral for that service does not make them sub-standard clinicians. They are excellent and most work there because they believe in the help they are providing for the community.
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LoyalSocialist
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08-22-08 2:53 PM
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I would rather see abortions then abused and neglected children. Keep on growing, educating and providing well needed services.
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momof4
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08-22-08 2:30 PM
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Mr. Drisgula is off the mark - PP is still regarded as an abortion provide- be it through referrals or actual performance, at a local and national level. Further, the PP standard of care may be adequate, but I will ensure my family has medical care that far exceeds adequate (especially when it comes to informed consent for ANY treatment). Members of the community have an obligation to make the community; the citizens can choose whether this business (it is a business, not some social justice effort) withers or thrives. Perhaps other medical providers will step up their efforts toward their patients - the patients deserve the 'win' here, not PP.
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vdanise
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08-22-08 1:44 PM
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Oh come on people, stop the bickering...... Enough is enough. Planned Parenthood is there for a reason, to help people of all ages. Just let them do their job and cool it! If you don't like it, don't go there. Didn't your Mother every tell you if you don't have something nice to say not to say it at all? Maybe that's your problem..... you don't listen to your Mother............ or don't know how. Be supportive of Planned Parenthood.... Say something nice............
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Onesies2
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08-22-08 8:58 AM
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Hey Big Ern, theres only 1 moron who posts on here and thats you! You're the worst
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raiderxz
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08-22-08 8:16 AM
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wow!!!!!!! I did not realize an illegal drug thats starts with H, and a prescription drug starting with O would be blocked out with ************** when I post. What is the LeaderHerald thinking of blocking out normal non offonsive words? You should be trying to stop the actual drugs, not just blocking words of drugs names. Wow this is the funniest and dumbest things I have ever seen from this newspaper. I belieive this shows the leaderherald does not believe in "Freedom of Speech" at all when they block out such non offensive content such as the name of a prescription drug. This is a new low for this newspaper by blocking freedom of speech by its users.
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raiderxz
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08-22-08 8:09 AM
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I don't agree but who cares about a planned parenthood in the area really, I did not even know it was there until this newspaper article about it moving. Those of you trying to play god by trying to make all laws god friendly are nuts yourself. If it was a perfect world everyone would go to heaven which is not the way it is suppose to be. You have a choice to live the way you want to here on earth (to be good or bad, to be religious or non-religious), and that choice cannot be made for you. And there are much bigger problems, like prescription drugs now killing more than 3 times as many people than all illegal drugs combined. This is quite shocking when illegal drugs are harder to get than prescription drugs which can be purchased with just one click from many illegal online pharmacies. It must be the FDA's plan to take over the illegal drug market by replacing all illegal narcotic drugs with illegal prescription drugs. *********kills 10 times more people than ******.
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ohwhatnow
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08-21-08 8:16 PM
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These girls make it to DSS which is only two blocks from where they are moving to and is on the same bus route. I don't think that it will be an issue. I just wish we had a more culturally progressive community where they could have put an awesome coffee house/art gallery of some sort... *sighs*
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morningstar
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08-21-08 5:47 PM
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M011ys, there is a flaw in your theory. The moving of an office does not cause a girl to become pregnant. Apparently your parents missed this in your "talk."
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homesweetsacandaga
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08-21-08 2:11 PM
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And Diva...it's because our area needs this moreso than a bar or restaurant. If they can't afford paps and good OB care they certainly can't afford filet and stout.
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homesweetsacandaga
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08-21-08 2:10 PM
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I'm not defending their move, or all of their practices but I will say this...I used to go to Planned Parenthood as a full-paying customer. Not on DSS, not on Medicaid. I had regular medical insurance. I went there because the staff is wonderful, gentle, kind and very knowledgeable. It never felt like I was being rushed, spoken at instead of to and I always felt like I was their only concern during my visits.
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teendude
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08-21-08 1:09 PM
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ONESIES,very well SPOKE n.
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Onesies2
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08-21-08 12:21 PM
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It is what it is DivaGod. These are the types of new facilities we get around here. But this community is a lovely place to live and is in wonderful shape - just ask some people on here, they'll tell ya!
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DivaGod
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08-21-08 11:33 AM
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Other communities put restaurants or brew pubs in old rail stations. Interesting reuse of space. Walk the Rail Trail get a pap smear.
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JUSTATAXPAYER
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08-21-08 11:18 AM
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well, if they can't get to Johnstown, Price Chopper is right around the corner, and Rite Aid is downtown, try going there...they sell ******s....helps prevent pregnancy and STD's
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m011ys
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08-21-08 11:02 AM
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umm, why move to johnstown if over half their visits were in gloversville? Now these girls who dont have a car or a way to get to perry st. will not have free ******s and cheap screnings. therefore they will be having more babies.
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