PPLA Annual Report 2022-2023

I’M FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Dear Friends,

In this first year postDobbs, we have seen the resonating effects of the Supreme Court’s horrific decision overturning Roe v. Wade. In that time, 21 states have criminalized abortion care, causing and widening the divide between those who can and cannot access care across the country.

Despite the troubling landscape, Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) remains deeply committed to providing safe and legal abortion services to all who turn to us. Thank you for your support during this pivotal moment.

As we look ahead, PPLA will remain an integral part of the fabric of Los Angeles. Together we are rooted in the social safety net through our provision of care to teens and adults, our training partnerships with medical institutions and universities, our partnerships with local health departments, our presence on high school campuses, and our advocacy work for those who need care and support. You allow us to continue this lifelong work in Los Angeles County.

With gratitude,

Sue Dunlap President and CEO

Senior Management

Sue Dunlap, PRESIDENT AND CEO

Maggie Abrego, VICE PRESIDENT, DEVELOPMENT

Claudia Borzutzky, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, PATIENT SERVICES

Susan Bradley, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Danny Chen, VICE PRESIDENT, FACILITIES AND SECURITY

Fernando Delgado, SENIOR DIRECTOR, REVENUE CYCLE AND INSURANCE

John M. Erickson, PhD, VICE PRESIDENT, PUBLIC AFFAIRS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND MARKETING

Brenda Guerrero, LVN, VICE PRESIDENT, HEALTH CENTER OPERATIONS

Robert Hawkins, SENIOR DIRECTOR, SECURITY

Michelle Horejs, MPH, VICE PRESIDENT, TRAINING AND SPECIAL PROJECTS

Serena Josel, VICE PRESIDENT, ABORTION ACCESS

Greg Lepine, MBA, CPHIMS, VICE PRESIDENT, IT

Andrea Leti, MEng, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Kym McKay, SENIOR DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Kevin Oliver, CHIEF LEGAL COUNSEL

Linda Pahl, MBA, CMA, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Yesenia Real, SPHR, SHRM-CP, VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES

Nicole E. Ressa, CHIEF EDUCATION AND PROGRAMS OFFICER

Rachel Rodriguez, SHRM-CP, CHIEF PEOPLE AND CULTURE OFFICER

Sonia Solin, VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP AND BRAND

Tracey Sologub, RN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT, PATIENT SERVICES

David Speiser, MD, FACOG, FACS, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER

Margot’ Taylor, VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY AND ADVOCACY

Remelyn Valera MSN, FNP-C, SENIOR DIRECTOR, CLINICAL SERVICES

Celinda M. Vázquez, CHIEF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER

Bess L. Walkes, CHIEF PARTNERSHIPS OFFICER

Fellow Supporters,

As a Board navigating this moment in history, our charge is clear: prepare Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) for the fight ahead. We are making every effort to ensure consistent and compassionate sexual and reproductive health care is available for all who need it — for generations to come.

Over the past few years, we have invested heavily in building our services to meet the needs of patients. This has included ramping up our community education programs to reach more teens, parents, and caregivers. It has meant

Board of Directors 2023-24

Renée Delphin-Rodriguez, JD

Carolyn Strauss

Rupa Balasubramanian

Cindy Capobianco

Dr. Edison Cartwright de Mello

Lauren Edgerton

Gisela Friedman

Dana Guerin

Dr. Peggy T. Gutierrez

Kristi Henderson

The Hon. Sydney Kamlager-Dove

expanding PPLA’s role as a trainer of not only health care providers but also teachers and other youth-serving professionals. It has resulted in clinics on 31 high school campuses, the provision of free behavioral health care, and the expansion of services for patients who are transgender.

On behalf of the Board of Directors at PPLA, we thank you for being in this alongside us. Our mission, our motivation, and our services are possible because of supporters like you. We are stronger together.

With great appreciation,

Carolyn Strauss and Renée Delphin-Rodriguez Co-Chairs, Board of Directors

The Hon. Abbe Land, Secretary

Hannah Linkenhoker

Yvette Martinez

Estevan Jose Montemayor

Amarita Natt, PhD

Kay Sheth

Amelia Warren Tyagi, Treasurer

The Hon. Rick Chavez Zbur, JD

Cornelia Beezie Daly, MD

Arthur J. Ochoa, JD

Sherry Ross, MD

Jason D. Russell, Esq.

Donna L. Schweers, Vice Chair

Martha P. Swiller

Catherine L. Unger

Our mission: To provide convenient and affordable access to a comprehensive range of quality reproductive health care and sexual health information through patient services, education, and advocacy.

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles Health Services Snapshot

24 CLINICS

361,662 CALLS ANSWERED

366,395 STI TESTS

81,704 PREGNANCY TESTS

152,969 BIRTH CONTROL PACKS

7,533 CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING

29 WELLBEING CENTERS

245,878 PATIENT VISITS

19,089 BIRTH CONTROL SHOTS

51,324 RAPID HIV TESTS

9,288 IUDS AND IMPLANTS

786,012 CONDOMS

50,462 EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION

485 VASECTOMIES

21,864 ABORTIONS

6,135 BREAST EXAMS

Care

Health Center Expansion

PPLA renovated and merged our two Lakewood Health Centers in order to create a larger site capable of serving even more patients. In the fall of 2023, PPLA opened a new health center in Long Beach dedicated to abortion care, including later abortion. This includes care for patients with complex health issues — such as severe fetal complications. We are one of the few providers of this care in Los Angeles County. Long Beach is an ideal location for expanded abortion services as it is a major population center with multiple hospitals and a growing airport.

Security

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, PPLA has seen a marked increase in vandalism and protest activity around our health centers. Our opposition has become increasingly organized and emboldened. It is essential that PPLA is prepared for attacks on our security — for the welfare of the organization, our employees, and the patients and community members we serve. We have prioritized investing even more in the safety of our staff and patients and will continue to do so in the face of these horrifying attacks.

Staffing

One of PPLA’s greatest assets is our dedicated team. Our staff has stepped up to ensure PPLA patients receive the care and information they need. To acknowledge the hard work, we increased PPLA’s starting hourly wage to $25 across the organization. Recognizing that PPLA’s work is made possible by our passionate team, we also celebrated an “Employee Appreciation Day,” which included two tickets and restaurant gift cards for Disneyland.

“PPLA does a fantastic job of having an inclusive culture, better than I have seen my entire career. I feel comfortable being who I am at work.”

PPLA EMPLOYEE

Wellbeing Centers — Care for Teens

In March 2023, PPLA opened its newest Wellbeing Center (WBC) in a Long Beach high school highly impacted by health inequities.

PPLA now operates 29 WBCs on high school campuses across Los Angeles County in partnership with Los Angeles County Department

of Public Health (DPH). These WBCs provide reproductive and sexual health care on campus, such as birth control, pregnancy tests, and STI testing and treatment — encouraging young people to get the trusted care they need without stigma and judgment.

Behavioral Health

PPLA now offers free behavioral health care to adults at our Compton and Inglewood Health Centers. Patients experiencing mild to moderate mood disorders can receive up to 16 weeks of supportive services with a clinical therapist at no charge.

PPLA included free behavioral health services for teens at eight WBCs on high school campuses. We also added modules on mental health and substance abuse to the curricula used in all our education programs to help address the mental health needs of underserved youth and their families.

“Planned Parenthood Los Angeles stands as an inspiring and steadfast champion for reproductive justice throughout the county and within our nation. Their leadership knows no bounds, transcending geographical boundaries and leaving an indelible mark across the entire country. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to PPLA for consistently serving as a staunch supporter on a nationwide scale.”

KERSHA

R. DEIBEL, MPH, MSW, SENIOR ADVISOR, BLACK HEALTH EQUITY, PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA

Biviana Lagunas (PPLA), Kersha R. Deibel (PPFA), and Tiffany Rodriguez (PPLA)

Youth Education

PPLA’s Education team has been developing an exciting new program focused on reaching youth at risk of the highest health inequities, such as foster youth, incarcerated youth, and transitionalage youth. Scheduled to launch in 2024, the program will feature new educational sessions on sexual health, mental health, and advocating for oneself to address the needs of these priority populations. The program will be delivered in non-traditional settings, including residential centers and continuation schools, to empower hard-to-reach youth with the information they need to live healthy lives. Additionally, we will partner with the Department of Children and Family Services to teach comprehensive sex education to foster youth.

Adult Education

PPLA’s Education team conducts training and coaching sessions for DPH WBC educators and supervisors to equip them with skills and resources to educate and support students in a safe and non-judgmental manner. They also facilitate capacity building trainings for hundreds of public school teachers annually. Promotoras conduct outreach in public spaces and deliver community and parent education on issues vital to health and family communication.

Peer Advocates

PPLA’s Peer Advocates, a group of dedicated high school students, serve as reliable, non-judgmental resources for sexual health information and PPLA services through highly effective, preventionfocused outreach at their schools. Peer Advocates meet with PPLA educators weekly to discuss topics such as STI prevention, healthy relationships, and mental health. In 2022-23, Peer Advocates reached over 17,000 of their fellow students with vital information regarding sexual and reproductive health and services on campus.

2,752 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS RECEIVED SEX EDUCATION

>3,000 TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS REACHED BY BLACK HEALTH INITIATIVE

297

YOUTH-SERVING

PROFESSIONALS TRAINED

(includes 25 teen volunteers for Cedars-Sinai Teen Line)

>17,000 YOUTH REACHED BY PEER ADVOCATES

>27,000 ADULTS REACHED BY PROMOTORAS

Equity

Quality, patient-centered sexual and reproductive health care, education, and information, delivered with dignity and respect, is critical to addressing the health inequities faced by the LGBTQ+ community as well as Black and Indigenous communities and people of color. As a vital partner to patients, communities, and public health, we work toward greater health equity by increasing access to care, addressing systemic racism and discrimination, and providing culturally relevant care. To this end, PPLA is providing the following services geared specifically to community needs.

Black Health Initiative

Black communities in Los Angeles County face multiple systemic barriers to care, including racism and discrimination, leading to significant reproductive and sexual health inequities, such as high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, infant deaths, and STIs. Designed to help mitigate these barriers, PPLA’s Black Health Initiative offers a broad range of clinical services including prenatal care and behavioral health care. In the year ahead, PPLA will expand services to include doula care to help improve health outcomes from pregnancy through post-partum.

PPLA’s Education team designed an innovative Black Health Initiative curriculum to honor, uplift, and empower Black individuals. The curriculum uses a reproductive justice lens and includes sessions on the following topics: abortion, sexuality, healthy relationships, STIs, birth control, mental health, stress management, and intimate partner violence. All information provided is medically accurate, culturally relevant, and inclusive of abortion rights, care, and services. Black Health Initiative Educators also conduct outreach and teach these sessions to teens and adults across Los Angeles County.

Additionally, the PPLA Inglewood Community Center offers a Medical Legal Partnership in collaboration with the UCLA Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy, and Legal Aid Foundation Los Angeles. Here patients from Inglewood Health Center receive free legal services and get referred to other support services.

Margot’ Taylor (PPLA), Janette Robinson Flint (Black Women for Wellness), and Kara James (PPLA)

Promotoras Comunitarias

PPLA is committed to providing culturally and linguistically competent community outreach and education to Latinx communities. Promotoras, who are trusted and influential leaders in their communities, build bridges between Spanishspeaking populations and the health care system to improve community health.

Care for Transgender Patients

PPLA is working to address health inequities faced by people who are transgender and non-binary by providing a safe and trusted space to access care across all of our health centers and programs. PPLA now offers gender-affirming hormone therapy to patients 18 and older at our Long Beach Health Center. This past year our providers at the Long Beach Health Center provided care to 60 patients who identify as transgender.

Nicole Ressa (PPLA), Jamie Kennerk (PPLA), Bamby Salcedo (Activist and Community Organizer; center), Queen Victoria Ortega (Flux), and Claudia Powell (PPLA)

PPLA’s Promotoras Comunitarias Team

Abortion Access

As of publication, 21 states have banned some or all abortion, creating a widespread public health crisis. Nationwide efforts to restrict access to services are threatening the health, wellbeing, and safety of millions of individuals.

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, PPLA worked diligently to expand abortion access. Thanks to these efforts, we are typically able to offer appointments to patients seeking care on the same or next business day. We have been able to maintain this strong appointment access even as demand for abortion care has grown significantly in the past year.

At the core of our commitment is the belief that abortion is health care and that everyone — no matter their zip code — deserves high-quality, compassionate health care. We are proud to care for patients from near and far, including patients who have traveled from across the country or overseas.

A patient recently came to PPLA after being turned away due to legal restrictions in three different states. Weeks of waiting for appointments, only to be canceled at the last minute as laws changed, added unnecessary stress and cost to her care. She described her experience at PPLA as “the most professional medical care I’ve ever received — even more than when I gave birth in a hospital.”

Abortion access is a fundamental aspect of reproductive health care and plays a crucial role in ensuring an individual’s bodily autonomy and overall wellbeing. Cruel restrictions on accessing care are threatening the mental and physical health, and even the lives of pregnant people. Here are some of the ways PPLA has been building a robust, patient-centered abortion ecosystem:

Revised Sliding Scale for Abortion Care

Cost should never be a barrier to care, which is why we have reduced our fees for self-pay patients accessing abortion services. In practical terms, this means that patients without health insurance who live at or below the Federal Poverty Line receive abortion care at no charge.

Patient Navigation

PPLA’s Patient Navigation program plays a crucial role in connecting out-of-state patients with care at our health centers. Patient Navigators provide callers with guidance on their options, walk them through PPLA’s financial counseling, and connect them with trusted partners for additional support, when needed.

Provider Training

Medical residents can no longer be trained in abortion care in the states where abortion is outlawed. As a result, we are facing a future with fewer medical professionals trained in comprehensive reproductive health care. We continue to work with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of California — Los Angeles (UCLA), University of Southern California (USC), and Kaiser Permanente to ensure a skilled cohort of doctors, including those from out of state, are trained to provide the full range of abortion care. These clinical skills are essential not only for abortion care but also for miscarriage management and pregnancy complications.

“We believe that the ability to make autonomous decisions about our bodies, and if, how, and when to have children is essential for individual and community health and wellbeing.

We work every day

to

advance equity in sexual and reproductive health so that everyone can get the care they want and need, where and how they need it, with dignity and respect. That’s why we are proud to partner with Planned Parenthood to advance our shared goals of advancing reproductive equity, empowering patients, and expanding access to patientcentered care.”

NOMSA KHALFANI, PHD, CO-CEO, ESSENTIAL ACCESS HEALTH

Nomsa Khalfani (Essential Access Health) and Celinda M. Vázquez (PPLA)

Advocacy

PPLA works at the local, state, and federal levels to advocate for abortion access, medically accurate sexual health education, contraceptive equity, patient safety, and overall reproductive justice for all people.

Our Public Affairs team has built a network of relationships with community-based organizations, government agencies, public school districts, volunteers, and individual clients to further advance health equity for individuals, families, and communities in Los Angeles County.

This year we fiercely advocated for the State’s investment in reproductive health care, highlighting the importance of elevating this care in the post-Dobbs era. This resulted in increased funding for uncompensated care for abortion and contraceptive services, reproductive justice education, security funding for abortion health care providers, and the operationalizing of the groundbreaking Los Angeles County Safe Haven pilot program, which the Public Affairs team was on the forefront of. These investments by the State of California and Los Angeles County will increase access to and fortify reproductive health services for years to come.

“In today’s America, women have less freedom than the women who came before them. In an era where access to safe and legal abortion is under attack at the federal level, it is crucial that we rally behind advocates like Planned Parenthood, who have consistently led the charge for reproductive justice. It is our collective responsibility to come together and guarantee that every individual’s right to receive comprehensive and high-quality reproductive healthcare is firmly established on the national stage. Thank you Planned Parenthood for your unwavering leadership and for your steadfast commitment to being a formidable force championing women’s health and reproductive justice for all.”

CONGRESSMAN ROBERT GARCIA CA-42

Maria Shriver (middle row, first from left) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell (middle row, second from right) with Board members and staff from PPLA, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and Planned Parenthood Greater Texas

“NO HEALTH CARE PROVIDER SHOULD HAVE TO FEAR FOR THEIR SAFETY WHEN THEY COME TO WORK. NO PATIENT DESERVES TO BE HARASSED WHEN THEY ACCESS MEDICAL CARE.”