Santa Cruz resident Phoenix poses for an anonymous portrait at the former Planned Parenthood clinic in Downtown Santa Cruz on Aug. 1. Their hormone therapy care was interrupted by the clinic’s abrupt closure in July. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
SANTA CRUZ>> With Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s sudden closure last month of its Downtown Santa Cruz clinic and halt of prenatal, mental health and primary care at its remaining clinics, thousands of Santa Cruz County residents are left scrambling to find care.
Local safety net clinics are preparing for an influx of new patients, particularly for primary care, as the federal health care spending cuts approved last month begin to impact the county.
Anita Aguirre, CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health Centers, said residents with Medi-Cal who had Planned Parenthood as their primary provider have until Aug. 31 to choose a new provider, or they will automatically be assigned one.
Santa Cruz Community Health is one of three federally qualified health centers in the county, Aguirre said, and is anticipating 500 to 1,000 new patients.
Andrew Adams, chief of staff of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, said that as the organization sunsets prenatal, mental health and primary health care, current patients can continue to receive these services until they find new providers. He said he expects the transition to take about three to six months.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte patients can go to any of its clinics, including in Watsonville, Salinas and San José, and make phone appointments.
Left in a lurch
Santa Cruz resident Phoenix, who uses they/them pronouns and did not want to share a last name, said they used the Santa Cruz Planned Parenthood clinic for gender-affirming care because they can “call and get an appointment within a week sometimes,” they said. Gender-affirming care can include medical and non-medical services to support transgender and nonbinary people to align their bodies with their gender identity.
Phoenix said they’ve received primary care at Santa Cruz Community Health and the county’s Emeline Avenue clinic, and appointments are often months out.
They did not receive any communication from Planned Parenthood about the Santa Cruz clinic’s closure and were left in a lurch. They recently started injection hormones instead of patches and were in the middle of that switch when the clinic closed, leaving them without a plan for testing hormone levels.
“Hormones affect so many things, including my mood,” they said, and tests are important to determine if the dosage is appropriate. Phoenix got the required tests this week after a phone appointment with the Watsonville Planned Parenthood clinic and a referral to Quest Diagnostics in Live Oak.
“I was able to get a ride from a friend,” they wrote in a text message. “But it makes me wonder about future bloodwork not owning a car.” Phoenix said they live about an hour by bus from Live Oak.
Dr. Gail Newel, who served as Santa Cruz County’s health officer from 2019 to 2023, said that the local safety net clinics likely will be able to absorb most of the influx of patients.
“That’s not true everywhere though. I grew up in the Central Valley and did most of my career in the Central Valley, and it’s very difficult to access reproductive care there. The Medicaid population in the valley and in much of the state of California is much greater than it is in Santa Cruz, proportionately,” she said. “In Santa Cruz, we’re fairly well positioned to make sure that everybody gets their health care needs met, including abortion services.”
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s Santa Cruz clinic abruptly shuttered July 24. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local)
Why the clinics closed
About 80% of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte patients are on Medi-Cal, said Adams, the chief of staff. He said the decision to close five clinics was a direct result of the Trump administration’s move to end Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide. Medi-Cal is California’s version of Medicaid.
The end of Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood went into effect July 4. In the first week without billing Medicaid, Adams said Planned Parenthood Mar Monte lost about $1.7 million across its clinics. Despite an injunction from a Massachusetts judge last week that, at least for now, allows the clinics to bill Medicaid again, Adams said the closures remain necessary as the case will undoubtedly be appealed.
In deciding which clinics to close, Adams said they considered the conditions of the clinics’ buildings and their proximity to other safety net clinics.
One Santa Cruz County resident, who requested anonymity to discuss his health, said he found out about the downtown clinic’s closure because he called to refill a prescription last week and the phone line was disconnected. The man, who is a wildland firefighter, said he is recovering from a severe back injury and went several days without the prescription before visiting an emergency room to get medication.
He was on the phone with the clinic the week prior and was “surprised that no one mentioned, like, ‘Hey, by the way, we’re unfortunately going to be closing.’” The decision to close clinics in Santa Cruz, Gilroy, Madera, San Mateo and South San Francisco, was made two days before they closed, said Adams.
Doctors and other laid off employees were informed the same day the clinics shuttered July 24.
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Nik Altenberg is a bilingual reporter and assistant editor at Santa Cruz Local. Nik Altenberg es reportera bilingüe y editora asistente para Santa Cruz Local.
Amaya Edwards is Santa Cruz Local's Photo and Social Media Journalist. She is a Catchlight Local Fellow.
