The Planned Parenthood in El Paso, Texas, is closing after 72 years due to financial difficulties. Interim Executive Director Analinda Moreno announced the closure, which will affect six offices in El Paso that service more than 12,000 women, on Friday. She told the El Paso Times that “We knew eight days ago that there was just absolutely no other way other than to close. Now our concern is negotiating a smooth transfer for all our patients with their consent, but it has been a challenge trying to contact all of them.”
The closure announcement comes just one month after Planned Parenthood El Paso discontinued services for HIV/AIDS patients, also because of funding issues. Many of Planned Parenthood’s former HIV/AIDS patients have been referred to El Centro de Salud La Fe. In response to the complete closure of the Planned Parenthood clinics, other local healthcare providers including Project Vida, Centro San Vicente and Thomason Hospital Women’s Health Center are preparing for an influx of new patients, according to ABC.
A Planned Parenthood El Paso patient told KFox14 TV that people “seeking medical help that don’t have the money to go to a doctor can just easily go here, now it’s not going to be open…It’s going to be harder because I don’t even know of a good doctor that serves people with a low income.”
