Hope President/CEO announces additional health services for women.
The Board and Staff of Hope Women’s Centers is pleased to announce a major expansion of services that will be available for their patients in 2017.
In October of 2016, the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] released a report showing that 2015 was the second year in a row in which increases were seen in all three nationally reported Sexually Transmitted Infections [STIs]. Approximately 1.5 million cases of chlamydia represent the highest number of annual cases of any condition ever reported to CDC. Substantial increases were also seen among reported cases of gonorrhea and syphilis. Young people and women are most severely affected by STIs, and the most at-risk people of all are women between 15-25, the exact demographic of Hope’s target patients. Young women face the most serious long-term health consequences of these STIs; it is estimated that undiagnosed STIs cause infertility in more than 20,000 women each year.
Beginning in January 2017, Hope Women’s Centers will offer FREE and CONFIDENTIAL screening for chlamydia and gonorrhea to all pregnancy test patients. This is a simple urine-based test – no needles or blood draws required! Our medical director will prescribe treatment for all positive test patients. This service will be paid for by the state of Florida under the Florida Pregnancy Support Services Program [FPSSP]. Hope Women’s Centers is one of five organizations in the state that will pilot the program beginning in January. Later in 2017, we hope to add STI screening in our centers for the men who are partners of our pregnancy test patients. Until that time, we can refer these men for free STI testing locally. Referrals will be given for free blood testing for syphilis and HIV for male and female patients.
A new division of the FPSSP is currently under development at the state level, to be known as Florida Women’s Wellness Support Services [FWWSS]. Hope Women’s Centers has also been invited to participate in the roll-out of FWWSS that will provide uninsured women over 18 with an annual physical with lab tests and up to two follow-up visits if needed. We will be able to refer our patients to local pro-life physicians who agree to accept our referrals. The physician will bill the FPSSP directly for the medical service and a national lab will bill the FPSSP directly for all lab fees associated with our patients. We are so excited to be able to offer these additional health services to our patients!
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McDonald noted: “Hope Women’s Centers is working to build a culture where every woman receives the support she needs to make an informed decision regarding her pregnancy. Last year Hope’s pregnancy medical clinics in Broward County saw almost 6,000 client visits. Eighty-six percent of the women who were considering abortion decided to carry their pregnancy to term after receiving the comprehensive services that are offered free of charge at Hope. Hope Women’s Centers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.”
If you know someone that could benefit from our services, please send them our patient information.
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