Six Rivers Planned Parenthood, a nearly 40-year-old affiliate serving Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties, is about to be dissolved. The agency will be taken over by a larger regional affiliate called Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific. After the takeover the expanded affiliate, including more than 30 sites in 20 counties, will be renamed Planned Parenthood Northern California — or PP NorCal for short.

Six Rivers Planned Parenthood’s board of directors voted to dissolve the local affiliate after the agency fell into a financial hole due to “trends in health care financing,” according to an official statement emailed to supporters last week.

Read the statement below:

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we write to update you about the status of Planned Parenthood services in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties.

For nearly 40 years, Six Rivers Planned Parenthood has provided caring and comprehensive reproductive health care, accurate sexual health education, and advocated for the passage of laws and policies that guarantee reproductive freedom. As a donor, your contribution has been of enormous help as SRPP worked toward achieving our mission. Thank you!

At the same time, for several years, health care reimbursement rates have not come close to covering costs. Thanks to your support for many years we were able to close this gap. However, trends in health care financing indicate that it is nearly impossible for SRPP, as a single-site health center, to be financially sustainable. 

To ensure that present and future patients will have access to Planned Parenthood services long into the future, the SRPP Board of Directors voted to dissolve our affiliate effective July 31, 2014. On August 1, 2014, Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific (soon to be known as Planned Parenthood Northern California) — a separate Planned Parenthood organization — will begin providing medical, educational, and advocacy services in Humboldt, Trinity and Del Norte counties. PP NorCal will staff and manage the Eureka clinic in the same building at 3225 Timber Fall Court, Suite B.

As always, the health of our patients and the communities we serve is our number one concern. Throughout this process, PP NorCal will ensure the availability of uninterrupted services to the women and men who rely on us for health care, education, and advocacy, including the teen peer education program Spare Change and other education and public affairs programs.

We appreciate your strong support of SRPP and urge you to welcome and help sustain Planned Parenthood NorCal as they provide medical, education, and advocacy programs in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties.