NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT continued from page 27
We asked CEO Chelly Hegan a few questions. Q: Are you ever scared? Rarely. I worry more about the political side of what they’re trying to do to us and how they try to shame our patients just for seeking basic health care. Q. What does reproductive healthcare encompass? We provide safe, caring, non-judgmental services for women and men — everything from breast, ovarian and cervical cancer screenings to finding the best method of contraceptive for you so that you can delay having children until you’re ready. Sexually transmitted infections are rampant in this country. The majority of men who come to seek care here want to have a check-up and make sure everything’s OK.” Q. Do you encounter rape victims? We see people in all sorts of situations. We do a tremendous amount of work in educational programs around healthy relationships. The Albany County Crime Victims and Sexual Violence Center does domestic violence training for our staff every year.
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We see people at all income levels. However the majority of our patients come from at or below the poverty level. There are still plenty of people who need low cost access to care, either because they are uninsured or because they can’t afford their deductibles. We have a sliding fee scale. Q. What misconceptions do people have about Planned Parenthood? That all we do is abortion. Less than 10 percent of what we do is abortion care. Some people think of our health centers as grimy, low-cost public clinics. Actually, we run beautiful health centers. I also think there’s a misconception that no one who works for Planned Parenthood is religious. There are plenty of very spiritual churchgoing folk who work here. There are plenty of churches and clergy who support what we do and who we are. Q. Where do you see Planned Parenthood heading in the future? What we’re working toward right now is making sure that we have a longterm sustainable future. Healthcare is changing so rapidly, it’s impossible to know exactly what it’s going to look like. I would hope that in the future, we’re not politicized as we are right now, that reproductive healthcare is just seen as the part of the continuum of care for people.”
Photos at left, Collleen Ingerto; Services photos at right courtesy of Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood; Chelly Hegan, Colleen Ingerto.
Q. Do you tend to work with low-income clients?