Supporters like you and I know that Planned Parenthood serves a broad range of patients, and offers a broad range of services to everyone.
Planned Parenthood health centers continually adapt, and evolve based on community needs.
This means that all Planned Parenthood health centers must build relationships as community partners – not only with our patients, but with other organizations our patients and communities depend on.
The Mishawaka health center in Indiana is a perfect example of this dynamic community partner.
Located in a principal city in the South Bend/Michiana area, the Mishawaka health center is near several major colleges and universities (including Notre Dame, which is only about 20 minutes away). The city itself has a history of robust industry (including a former GM plant), and suffers some of the economic effects of the “rust belt.” Currently, the area’s primary industries are health care, service, and education.
Heather Anderson, Health Center Manager at Mishawaka, said that a large percentage of the patients they see there are students both in college and high school.
“There are three major universities and two community colleges very close by,” she said. She noted that the greatest need from student patients is STI testing.
With Mishawaka’s average household income of $55,411 and poverty rate of 15.72%, there are many patients who come in need of care facing financial hardship.
Additionally, the Mishawaka health center serves many undocumented immigrants. “We’re doing a lot more LUNA’s [translation services]. We are really grateful that our patients here continue to trust us,” said Anderson.
For each of these unique, and yet intersecting, populations, Anderson said that the Mishawaka health center team has been keyed in to coordinating their care for the best possible outcomes for their patients.
Especially after the consolidation of the former Elkhart Planned Parenthood clinic with Mishawaka, and then the COVID-19 pandemic which affected patient volumes at clinics across the country, coordination with other health care providers in the Michiana area has become crucial.
“When Elkhart consolidated, those patients became Mishawaka patients, and those numbers have remained stable,” said Kinsey-Brown. “That was a very smooth transition.”
Anderson added, “It was the same staff, so patients kept with the same providers. There was no interruption, or really any change, in their care. We were able to maintain those relationships.”
Kinsey-Brown noted that the Mishawaka health center regularly sees patients from all over the South Bend area.
“Another South Bend health care organization reached out and asked if we would like to be a referral partner with them,” said Anderson. “They did not have a provider for the services their patients needed.”
Lolita Kinsey-Brown, Area Services Director for the Indiana health center, said she was very excited about the partnership.
“That is amazing!” Kinsey-Brown exclaimed, and Anderson quickly added that “everyone is there to provide the best care to patients, it’s not a competition.”
“That’s what the clinic director and I talked about! That it’s about the patients,” said Kinsey-Brown.
Mishawaka health center also serves as an important hub to other Planned Parenthood health centers, managing medical records and direct-to-patient telehealth.
“Two staff members [in Mishawaka] make up the entire medical records team for the Eastern states [of Indiana and Kentucky],” said Kinsey-Brown.
She noted that direct-to-patient telehealth for the Eastern states of Indiana and Kentucky is also managed by a team of two, physically located within the Mishawaka health center.
All these responsibilities fall on a relatively small team. “They have five staff members there and a manager, and two nurse practitioners.”
The multi-tasking done by the Mishawaka health center team – both within the greater South Bend community and within the organization – is crucial to the mission of Planned Parenthood.
Anderson said, “I am very fortunate, I have an amazing team that is very versatile, everyone has their own strengths, and they do everything they can in order to accommodate the patients... and we are looking forward to expanding services even more.”
As for community reception and support, Anderson said that while Mishawaka can be conservative, they do not see much in the way of protests at the health center.
“We have an alarm system, and we have had a couple of small incidents like our sign being spray painted,” she said. “But the way the building is set up, the back looks like the front, so we don't get a ton of physical protests.”
She noted that a lot of anti-choice protestors in the area target another local reproductive care clinic, and that “it can get really bad.”
“We do get a lot of community support. People walk in a lot of donations to the health center, even many of our patients donate at the time of their appointment,” she said.
To support multi-tasking, community-partnering clinics like the Mishawaka Planned Parenthood health center, please donate here.
Tags: Indiana, community_partners