Video: New partnership plan saves Greenbridge clinic, moves West Seattle Planned Parenthood clinic

At the surface, what brought King County Executive Dow Constantine, County Councilmember Joe McDermott, Public Health acting director Patty Hayes, Seattle Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest CEO Chris Charbonneau, and others to White Center’s Greenbridge Plaza at noontime was news that a nearby county health clinic won’t have to close.

Their remarks are all featured in our video of the event, above, as well as what a clinic staffer and client had to say about the importance of saving the clinic. But what they explained in the media briefing wasn’t quite that simple:

*Mayor Murray’s proposed budget will include money for Greenbridge clinic operations (this was mentioned briefly in his Friday announcement about human-services and public-safety spending – the $ mentioned in that news release differs from what’s in today’s county news release, so we’re trying to verify which is correct)

*Planned Parenthood of the Great NW will take over family-planning services at the clinic, meaning layoffs for county-employed family-planning staffers unless they find jobs with PP

*As a result, PP will close its current West Seattle clinic (9641 28th SW) and merge its services into the Greenbridge location (9942 8th SW)

*County employees at the clinic will continue providing other services such as maternity support and Women/Infant/Children (WIC) nutrition support

Though Greenbridge is across the city/county line, it serves many Seattle residents, Constantine said, so city funding is appropriate. (The clinic relocated two years ago from its previous site about a mile south.) His plan for the clinic’s future will be in the budget proposal he presents one week from today.

P.S. The full county news release is part of coverage on our partner site White Center Now.

1 Reply to "Video: New partnership plan saves Greenbridge clinic, moves West Seattle Planned Parenthood clinic"

  • Jim September 15, 2014 (9:00 pm)

    minor detail… but the Planned Parenthood West Seattle location is also on the county side of the city/county line.

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