Planned Parenthood of Illinois is closing four clinics, cutting staff and beefing up its telehealth care as the organization continues to deal with financial issues.
Appointments will end in March at the four clinics in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood and in Ottawa, Decatur and Bloomington. None of the health centers provided procedural abortion care.
The organization is facing a financial shortfall due to rising health care costs, increases in patients needing financial help and an uncertain patient care landscape under the new presidential administration, Planned Parenthood of Illinois said in a news release.
Administrative staff will be cut with the clinic closures, but Planned Parenthood did not say how many jobs will be lost. Where possible, staff at those clinics will be offered jobs at other health centers or with the telehealth operation.
Part of the organization’s financial strain is because Illinois has seen the highest volume of out-of-state patients in the years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood has seen a 47% increase in overall abortion care patients and a quarter of those patients are from out of the state.
“We made plans for the patient surge, however rising care costs and lower reimbursement rates from insurers is jeopardizing PPIL’s sustainability,” Tonya Tucker, the interim president of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, this is the reality many other Planned Parenthood affiliates are facing in the rapidly evolving health care environment,” she added.
The organization’s 13 other clinics remain open. Planned Parenthood intends to increase appointments at the Champaign, Peoria, Springfield and Roseland health centers. They will also begin offering more telehealth appointments and medication abortions through the PPDirect app.
The app currently offers birth control, UTI treatment, at-home STI testing and emergency contraception. Starting next month, patients can receive medication abortions via the app.