Flagship Update

Planned Parenthood has roots in San Francisco dating back to 1929, when the Maternal Health Center opened on Oak Street. We have been here ever since, offering a full range of high-quality health care and education services to the people of San Francisco. 

We have maximized service capacity at our current location at 1650 Valencia in the Mission district, and the need continues to grow each year. (Our second site in San Francisco, the Wohlford Family Clinic, is housed inside the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center in Potrero Hill). Over the last three years, visit volume at our Valencia health center has increased by 50% and the average wait time for an appointment is six days, longer than the ideal industry standard for reproductive health care.

Our proposed flagship is located at 1522 Bush Street, a central location in San Francisco that is highly accessible by public transit. We expect that this central location will reduce the booking time for appointments by half (from an average of six days to three), and increase our visit capacity by 20%. 

Our combined health center and adjacent service space will expand from 4,000 sq. ft. to 11,000 sq. ft. and our health center will have a safe, private entrance to protect our patients and staff from intimidation and harassment.

We will provide expert and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care which includes: birth control, cancer screenings, pregnancy testing and counseling, STD testing and treatment including HIV, PEP and PrEP medications to prevent HIV infection, HPV vaccines, vasectomy, infertility services, and abortion. 

Each year, in our new location, we will provide:

• Contraception to 9,000 clients
• 1,200 cervical cancer/Pap tests
• 1,100 breast exams
• 31,000 STD tests
• 7,200 HIV tests
• 19,200 Chlamydia and Gonorrhea tests

San Francisco currently has the highest rates of HIV and gonorrhea infection per capita of all California counties. Gonorrhea rates in San Francisco have doubled in just the last four years.

Our health educators will deliver sexual health education and outreach to over 30,000 youth, teens, parents, providers and professionals in San Francisco, including San Francisco Unified School District. Our education work in San Francisco is a model for the state—and the nation—and we are committed to continuing this leadership role.

Planned Parenthood has been offering life-saving health care and education for 100 years, and we have no plans to stop anytime soon—regardless of the national political climate. We plan to double down in San Francisco, by establishing a flagship location that we design and own, in the heart of the city. This transformational expansion will establish a true home for our patients and a home for our movement.

We offer a full range of high-quality reproductive health care services at 20 sites from San Francisco to the Oregon border.

Our clients reflect the vibrant diversity of the community we serve. In San Francisco, 200,000+ residents are in need of low-cost health care (60,000 people lack health insurance, and 150,000 qualify for public insurance under Medi-Cal/Medicaid).

Here is a snapshot of the residents we serve in San Francisco:

• 84% of our patients are women
• 83% ages 18 to 34
• 25% Latino 
• 49% other non-White minorities 

One of the hallmarks of our care at Planned Parenthood is that we protect the privacy and confidentiality of all our clients. We are proud to provide expert and multilingual care with cultural humility, and we strive to understand the needs of all the individuals who seek health care and information from our board-certified clinicians and educators. 

Our materials are inclusive of people of all genders, ethnicities, and sexualities. 

We are one of very few health centers where anyone in need receives care—regardless of immigration status, insurance status or ability to pay. We offer low sliding scale fees and assist clients in applying for public health benefits. We are clinicians, teachers, and caregivers—and any and all residents in San Francisco can depend on us for care. No matter what.

Approximately 75% of our patients are San Francisco residents; many of the remaining 25% work in San Francisco. We treat over 11,000 patients on an annual basis.

We will continue to provide the same high quality care.

In addition to our health center, our ancillary space will accommodate our education, training, advocacy programs, and an executive office, with room to grow. The larger space will also house three exciting areas – clinical research, expanded community outreach and convening.

We look forward to opening our doors to our neighbors and community members as we offer meeting space and hosted events to bring together thought leaders, supporters, and community members.

We plan to offer services at our new flagship location by Fall 2020.

We expect to provide approximately 20,400 patient visits annually from our Flagship location. We will also serve organizations and individuals who connect with us for our expert advocacy and education services.

Our Flagship health center will be open 6 days a week to accommodate busy schedules:

8:30am - 8pm         Mondays, Tuesdays, & Thursdays
8:30am - 5pm         Wednesdays & Fridays
8:30am - 4pm         Saturdays; 

Drop-In Hours every weekday 8am-6pm and Saturdays 8am-3pm.

Our patients, community partners, and supporters will experience no disruption in the availability of services at existing locations. 

No. The Bush Street location matches well with our needs based on review of data on patient residence patterns and areas that are medically underserved in the city. The Van Ness Improvement Project, with its multiple new transit options beginning in 2019, add to our confidence that 1522 Bush will be a convenient destination for new and established patients.

No.

This location is one of the most transit-friendly in the City, with MUNI and the planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system just steps away. It is less than a 20-minute walk from Civic Center BART. The new Van Ness Improvement Project transit options are scheduled to be in place in 2019, well before the Summer/Fall 2020 opening date for the new health center.

Most staff members who work in San Francisco take public transportation, and the majority of them are San Francisco residents.

We don’t currently track this data, but we estimate that transit usage is consistent with already-high rates for the city at large. We anticipate that the multiple transit options near 1522 Bush will drive ridership up further for our clients.

Yes. We plan to engage in a comprehensive community outreach and marketing effort to  advertise our new location. All materials will reference transit options, our waiting room will offer brochures on transit options, and our staff will be trained to provide overviews to clients.

No, the TDM ordinance only applies to changes of use exceeding 25,000 square feet. We do intend to provide ample bicycle parking and are interested in partnering with local organizations to provide further transit options to clients.

The extraordinary commitment of the Planned Parenthood Northern California donor community will fund 100% of our Flagship location in San Francisco, as part of our historic Second Century Campaign. 

The total budget for the purchase, design, and build-out of our Flagship location is $13 Million.

No. Our Flagship expansion is 100% donor-funded. Once we begin to provide health services we will receive reimbursement for our services from private insurers and public entities that make health coverage available to qualified individuals based on income and other factors.

On July 20, 2017, The San Francisco Planning Department approved our application for a Conditional Use Authorization, in coordination with the San Francisco Department of Public Health on a Health Care Services Master Plan Consistency Determination.

Once permitting is granted, structural work will begin in Fall 2018. Remodeling and move-in would begin in Spring/Summer 2019 and reach completion by Summer/Fall 2020.

The building is within the RC-4 (Residential-Commercial Combined, High Density) zoning district, the Van Ness Special Use District, the Van Ness Automotive Special Use District, and 130-V Height and Bulk District. It has also been determined eligible for the California Register of Historic Resources.

Yes. RC-4 zoning does not permit health care uses above the ground floor, but we plan to locate our health center on the 2nd floor to provide greater space and privacy for patients. This requires a Conditional Use Authorization, which will be considered at the San Francisco Planning Commission hearing scheduled for July 20th.

Overall impact will be minor as construction must follow historic guidelines for the exterior of the building and the interior is a remodel. The majority of the work will consist of interior rehabilitation and upgrades to both floors. The building envelope will not increase. Planned Parenthood Northern California and its contractors will follow all rules and historic guidelines during construction, and we are actively soliciting community input in this area.

Planned Parenthood is deeply committed to ensuring a safe, dignified, and private atmosphere for all our health center locations. Safety is one of our top priorities.

We have a strong record of partnering successfully with City officials, neighbors, and Police Departments throughout our 20-county service area to minimize the impact of occasional protest activity. We fully understand that we must balance respect for our patients and every person’s right to safely access health care services with the constitutional right to free speech. 1522 Bush Street provides us with an exceptional opportunity in a dense urban area to design entrances and landscaping that will foster the most respectful, low-impact environment for our patients, staff, and neighbors. We intend to act as highly responsive, collaborative members of our immediate community, as we do in all locations, throughout the build and into the future.

Planned Parenthood standard safety protocols are extensive. We work closely with the SF Police Department to ensure ongoing security in and outside our health centers.

No. Protester activity is the exception to the norm in all our locations and the frequency largely depends on the physical layout. We identified our Flagship location with this important element in mind.

Public support in San Francisco is broad and deep, and can sometimes even include demonstrations in support of Planned Parenthood. When we do expect organized protest activity of any kind, our staff is experienced in working with neighbors and law enforcement to manage these gatherings to ensure that they are low-impact.

Our neighbors are welcome to call, email or stop by to speak with health center staff about any concerns. Our Public Affairs department will be located on-site at the San Francisco flagship to address any in-depth community concerns.

Yes, we are now conducting extensive outreach in the Central Van Ness Avenue Corridor. We actively invite feedback and look forward to ensuring that our new home fits into the community’s shared vision of growth and vitality.

We are thankful for the support we enjoy in San Francisco, one of the most advanced and inclusive places in the world. We are especially grateful for the outpouring of support right now, as extreme politicians attempt to deny millions of people the health care they need, at Planned Parenthood and other places.

We invite you to join our email list, to stay up-to-date on issues impacting Planned Parenthood.

You may contact us by reaching out to:

Sofia Navarro
Vice President of Community and Government Relations
[email protected]