Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s newest health center in Milwaukee began seeing patients this week, offering a full spectrum of care to women including abortion services, STD testing and treatment, contraception, cancer screenings and more.
This is the sixth PPWI center in Milwaukee County and the only one there providing abortions, according to Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of PPWI. By the group’s count, that means there are three facilities in the state providing abortions. Two in Milwaukee and Madison are run by PPWI, while another in Milwaukee is run by Affiliated Medical Services.
Including the newest location, PPWI has 21 centers in the state. And Atkinson says getting more of a presence in Milwaukee is particularly important.
“This is a region that is highly populated, so we want to make sure it’s accessible to as many people as possible,” Atkinson told WisBusiness.com. “We wanted to make sure we’re in more populated regions.”
According to a release from the nonprofit organization, one in five women goes to Planned Parenthood for preventive health care such as birth control, STD services and cancer screenings. In Milwaukee County alone, PPWI sees over 30,000 patients each year.
The new location, Atkinson says, was selected so that expansions in services like new screening techniques for various cancers can be easily pursued.
“It’s beautiful, inclusive and represents the dignity our patients deserve,” she said. “We’re a health care provider; like most, we’re continually looking for ways to improve the care we provide our patients.”
See more at WisBusiness.com.
