Need birth control, sexual health advice or an exam? Paso Robles clinic is here for all
The waiting room at the Paso Robles Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic is often filled with patients facing big, vulnerable questions about sex, health and relationships.
Some patients may be visiting the clinic for a low-stakes, routine exam, while others may be there to learn potentially life-altering news about a possible pregnancy, or to get the results of a sexually transmitted disease (STD) test.
Whatever the patient’s circumstances, the Spanish-speaking team of health workers at the Paso Robles clinic are there to take care of patients without judgment, said Jenny Taranto, clinic supervisor.
Everything the patient discloses to the health workers is confidential, even for minors, and the information they share is scientifically accurate and tailored to the unique health needs of every patient, Taranto said.
“We’re a safe place,” she said.
Taranto said that health workers at the clinic are trained on providing care that is culturally sensitive and affirming for LGBTQ+ patients. The staff is bilingual, and the clinic has translation services for patients that speak languages other than Spanish or English.
The Paso Robles health center recently expanded the services available at the clinic, and public health aides completed certifications that allowed them to provide more comprehensive family planning counseling to patients.
The reproductive health services offered at the Paso Robles Clinic
The clinic already offered numerous sexual and reproductive health care services and counseling for men, women, teenagers and transgender or non-binary patients. Some of these services include routine gynecological exams like pap smears and breast exams to check for cancer, pregnancy testing and testing for HIV/AIDS and STDs, Taranto said.
The clinic provides family planning counseling to help patients make informed decisions about pregnancy and can prescribe birth control methods such as the pill, implants and intrauterine device (IUDs), according to the clinic website. A relatively new option for patients is pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a drug that can be used to prevent HIV infection.
Abortion services are not offered at the Paso Robles clinic. If a patient has a positive pregnancy test, the clinic will talk them through every option, including how to access abortion services if that is what the patient chooses, Taranto said. The closest health center that provides low-cost abortion services is the Planned Parenthood in San Luis Obispo at 743 Pismo St.
The Paso Robles clinic also has an outreach team where health workers go into the community to provide scientifically accurate health education for different organizations. The outreach team has provided health education at National Guard bases and for Girl Scout troops, handed out condoms at homeless shelters and more, Taranto said.
Their outreach has been a bit limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, but things are ramping up. The team holds about one outreach event per month, Taranto said.
“We’re kind of everywhere,” Taranto said. “We want everyone to know across the board that we’re here for you.”
The clinic accepts private insurance, but patients may be eligible for free or low-cost services through programs such as the state-run Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (Family PACT), Medi-Cal or Medicare. Patients who have Family PACT are given a teal blue, health access program (HAP) card that indicates eligibility for free or low-cost services, according to the Family PACT website.
The HAP cards are good for one year and need to be renewed, according to the website. The Family PACT program suggests applying to renew benefits after 10 months to ensure there is no gap in healthcare coverage.
“We are never going to turn anyone away based on inability to pay,” Taranto said. “We’re the Public Health Department and we want to take care of our public. We want to take care of our community — that’s why we’re here.”
The Paso Robles Clinic expands healthcare services in North County
The Paso Robles Clinic at 805 4th Street has been serving the sexual and reproductive health needs of northern San Luis Obispo County for more than 20 years.
The Tribune tried to determine when the Paso Robles Sexual and Reproductive Health Clinic opened, but the people we spoke with said it has been around for as long as they can remember. Both Taranto and Michelle Shoresman, spokeswoman for county Public Health, estimated that the clinic has been around for more than 20 years.
In 2020, the clinic saw 2,152 patients, wrote Tara Kennon, spokeswoman for the Public Health Department, in an email. The majority of the patients identified as white, but about 759 patients identified as Hispanic/Latino, she said.
Taranto said the clinic offers many things that clients want: Spanish-language and culturally competent health counseling, airtight confidentiality and free or low-cost services.
“We do have people come from all over,” Taranto said.
Patients visit the Paso Robles clinic from as far as Arroyo Grande, Shandon and Cambria, she said. The clinic fills an important gap in the North County, where access to reproductive health services is limited.
North County patients in need of free or low-cost reproductive health services can visit the Paso Robles clinic or can drive to the Community Health Clinic or Planned Parenthood in San Luis Obispo.
In 2018, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Paso Robles was open for about two months before the property owner was pressured by anti-abortion activists to shut it down, according to past Tribune coverage. The Planned Parenthood clinic provided abortion services as well as other routine women’s health and reproductive health services.
A survey referenced in the 2018 articled showed women in the North County felt they did not have access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, according to Planned Parenthood. These services are provided at the Paso Robles clinic.
Recently, the Paso Robles clinic has expanded the health care services provided in-house to include more complex procedures and can provide more in-depth family planning counseling for patients.
Three public health aides working at the clinic completed a nationally recognized family planning certification course, which prepared them to speak with patients about all contraceptive methods and STD/HIV prevention and get true informed consent, Taranto said.
True informed consent means the patient is making a decision based on comprehensive, unbiased information that is provided by the health workers, she said.
The family planning health workers also learn how to comply with privacy and mandatory reporting laws while also providing confidential services, she said.
Adi Torres, a certified family planning health worker, said completing the certification helped her keep up with new advances in reproductive health care and learn new ways to help patients explore their family planning and healthcare options.
Torres said sometimes patients come into the clinic while experiencing intense situations that leave them anxious. After speaking with a provider, patients often say they leave feeling empowered.
Patients will say things like, “’I feel more relaxed knowing (I’m) getting my questions answered,’” Torres said. “We’ve had a lot of those comments.”
There are two nurse practitioners on staff that can provide clinical services such as mammograms, pap smears and colposcopies — a common type of cervical cancer screening that is performed after an abnormal pap smear — instead of having to refer patients elsewhere.
“We can provide service in-house, which is super exciting for us because access to care is huge, because getting to the clinic is hard for a lot of our patients,” Taranto said of the colposcopy services. “We’ve been doing the happy dance because we’re so excited to provide that service.”
Paso Robles clinic provides reproductive health services for teens
The clinic also welcomes teens and adolescents who need confidential sexual and reproductive health services.
In 2020, 235 patients at the Paso Robles clinic were under 18 years old and 534 were between the ages of 18 and 25, according to county Public Health data.
In the state of California, children 12 and older can access prevention, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases or infections without needing permission from a parent or adult. Teenagers can access birth control, pregnancy testing and prenatal care and abortion services without involving an adult, according to TeenSource.
“We’re never going to call parents because we’re confidential,” Taranto said. “That’s the law in California and we follow the laws here. We want those adolescents to know that this is a place they can come.”
Torres, the family planning health worker, said sometimes parents will bring their preteen or teenage children into the clinic because they want them to learn more about safe sex or to start taking birth control. She said although the parent is involved, the child is the person who is given the ultimate choice over their healthcare decisions.
“The child is the patient, and we will take the patient into the room by themselves,” Torres said. “That’s something that we do for all patients no matter what their age is.”
In the exam room, the health workers at the Paso Robles clinic make sure that all patients, regardless of age, hear scientifically accurate, unbiased health information to help them make informed choices about their bodies.
Patients who are concerned about running into someone they know in the waiting room also have a discreet option for accessing services. The patients can call the clinic ahead of time at 805-237-3050 and ask for a private intake. There is a doorbell on the back side of the clinic. After ringing the bell the patient will be taken to a private room, Torres said.
The eight-graders in Dee Rittenhouse’s Paso Robles-based Girl Scout troop learned about the discreet doorbell in 2019, when they opted to earn their health badge by visiting the clinic for a lesson about women’s health, safe sex and the choices the clinic affords them.
“It was girl-driven,” Rittenhouse said. “It was their choice to figure out which aspect of the health badge they wanted to work on.”
Rittenhouse knew Taranto personally and reached out to her after the Girl Scout Troop said they wanted to learn about women’s health for their badge.
“The information they learned is accurate,” Taranto said of the training. “It’s not something that they picked up on the internet. It’s good information.”
After her troop’s experience, Rittenhouse agreed. “I appreciate it because it’s very unbiased,” Rittenhouse said of the training.
Rittenhouse said the family planning health worker provided information that was tailored to an eighth-grade audience while still being objective and informative.
“Of course, there was a little giggling, but they learned a lot,” Rittenhouse said. “They even showed them how to put a condom on the banana.”
It’s been two years since the training and many of the girls have left the Girl Scout Troop after moving on to high school, but the experience at the clinic stuck with them. A few of the girls from the troop are now clinic patients, Rittenhouse said.
“I honestly don’t know how many people know about (the clinic),” Rittenhouse said. “I’m very happy with what they do there. They help so many people. I’ve even gone there myself.”
How to visit the reproductive health clinic for low-cost services
The Paso Robles Clinic is located at 805 4th St, Suite 201-202. The clinic is open from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closes for lunch at noon for one hour.
To make an appointment, inquire about a private intake room or ask questions, call 805-237-3050. The clinic appreciates appointments but will try to fit walk-in patients into the schedule, Taranto said.
California teenagers have the right to access confidential reproductive health care without involving an adult. For more information, visit TeenSource at teensource.org.
Planned Parenthood of San Luis Obispo offers free or low-cost reproductive health care and abortion services. The clinic is located at 743 Pismo St. Appointments can be booked online at bit.ly/ppsloappt or call 888-898-3806.
Low-income residents of California who need family planning services may be eligible for the Family PACT program — which subsidizes family planning services. Visit familypact.org/am-i-eligible for more information about requirements.
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 9:05 AM.
