A Springfield community health care provider is among four taking part in a statewide initiative to expand contraceptive care availability.
PhotoAlto/Eric AudrasA Springfield community health care provider is among four taking part in a statewide initiative to expand contraceptive care availability.
The four — SIU Center for Family Medicine in Springfield, Friend Health Center and Howard Brown Health in Chicago and SIHF Healthcare in southern Illinois — will be part of the Illinois Contraceptive Access Now initiative. They will join three other health centers in the Chicago area.
The network is designed to increase same-day access to FDA-approved birth control at low or no cost.
The program will train about 400 providers in family planning and related services. Within three years, the Illinois Contraceptive Access Now initiative wants to have 20 hubs in urban and rural communities statewide.
“As the Midwest’s largest provider of affirming healthcare services for the LGBTQ+ community, we look forward to partnering with (the network) to expand access to person-centered contraceptive care as part of our growing effort to meet the reproductive health needs of patients — including gender-diverse individuals — in our city’s most under-resourced communities,” said Monica Moore, medical director of obstetrics and gynecology at Howard Brown Health.
According to Illinois Contraceptive Access Now, nearly a third of contraceptive users lack coverage for services and supplies, and an estimated 800,000 women in Illinois live in counties without health centers that offer a full range of contraceptive methods.
