FITCHBURG — After 10 years of operation, the Planned Parenthood health center in downtown has permanently shut its doors after deciding to consolidate its services in Marlboro and Worcester.
“Planned Parenthood has been in Massachusetts for nearly 100 years, and we’re not going anywhere. The decision to close our Fitchburg health center and reallocate resources was driven by our mission to provide high-quality accessible care – no matter what,” said Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
She said the center, which only provided sexual and reproductive health care services and not abortions, was closed on a temporary basis in December because of persistent HVAC issues.
“After several months of careful consideration and a comprehensive review of patient needs, we decided to permanently close our Fitchburg Health Center in May 2019 and reallocate resource to PPLM’s other health centers,” said Childs-Roshak.
When the health center closed in May, its staff was transferred to PPLM’s other centers.
“PPLM’s dedicated, compassionate staff members are our greatest assets. We could not care for so many without their hard work,” she said.
When the Fitchburg center was open, it provided services on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to appproximately 1,600 patients annually.
Since it closed, the Marlborough health center, which is located on Main Street, has increased from operating three days a week to six days a week, Monday-Saturday, to handle the additional patients.
“(We) will continue to serve patients living in Central Massachusetts with the same scope of high-quality sexual and reproductive health care services at our Worcester and Marlborough health centers,” said Childs-Roshak.
Additionally, she said, “we have maintained our partnership with community leaders to bring sexual health information to North Central Massachusetts through our outreach programs, parent and youth education workshops, and remote resources, like out Sexual Health Counseling and Referral Hotline.”
For more information, call 800-230-7526.
To reach Cliff, email cclark@sentinelandenterprise.com
