Local mothers say they will drop WIC if not with Planned Parenthood

BY SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Thursday, October 11, 2012
10/11/12 at 7:01 AM

Two local women who have received WIC services through Planned Parenthood say they probably won't continue to pursue the benefits - which help feed their children - if they can't do so through the agency.

The three Planned Parenthood Women, Infants and Children clinics in Tulsa are set to close at the end of this year after the Oklahoma State Department of Health chose not to renew its WIC contract with Planned Parenthood.

Tiffany Rosales, the mother of three sons ranging in age from 11 months to 9 years, has been going to the same Planned Parenthood clinic for about 10 years.

Rosales called other local WIC clinics after hearing about the contract termination but said she found that it would be three to four months before she could get an appointment. She has decided she won't go anywhere else to get WIC services and probably won't be using the program anymore.

WIC provides food vouchers to low-income pregnant women, women who have recently given birth, and infants and children younger than 5.

Rosales said the women who work at the Planned Parenthood clinic helped her with raising her children and were always there for her.

"I think they're awesome," she said. "They help you when you need it."

Shawna Benson said she also will try to forgo WIC services if she can no longer receive them at a Planned Parenthood clinic because she wouldn't be comfortable anywhere else.

Benson can't read, but the women at the Midtown Health Center WIC clinic would always help her with paperwork and make sure she understood documents. They did so without making her feel ashamed of her inability to read the papers on her own, she said.

She doesn't think other clinics would operate the same way, she said.

Benson has been going to the clinic for 14 years and has seven children, the youngest of whom will be 1 in November.

"They need to keep it open for people who have special needs," she said.

When Benson was first pregnant, she didn't know what to do, she said. She learned how to breast feed through the clinic, and its employees were always there when she needed help, she said.

As a result of the contract's discontinuation, seven staff positions will be eliminated at Planned Parenthood, which hopes to find places for those affected employees, officials said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood officials have said they think the decision to end the contract was politically motivated. The move comes at a time when the nonprofit agency has been in the news frequently, with calls from anti-abortion advocates to discontinue its funding.

Planned Parenthood clinics in Oklahoma do not perform abortions, but they do provide referrals for them.

Rosales said she is anti-abortion but doesn't think the WIC clinic should get caught up in politics.

"They shouldn't put WIC through that," she said.

The state Health Department has denied that the contract's discontinuation was politically motivated and presented data showing that the Planned Parenthood WIC clinics have a relatively high cost per participant and have had a decrease in case load. It also produced an audit finding fault with some of Planned Parenthood's billing practices.

Among Tulsa WIC providers, Planned Parenthood had the highest cost per participant in fiscal year 2011 and the highest in what has been calculated in fiscal year 2012, which ended Sept. 30.

Terry Bryce, chief of WIC services for the state Health Department, said overhead costs and caseload at a clinic determine its costs per participant.

Expenses such as salaries and rent can vary, and the lower the caseload, the higher the cost per participant, he said.

Two of the Planned Parenthood WIC clinics have other WIC clinics within a mile and a half of them, and the third Planned Parenthood WIC clinic has another WIC clinic within 3 1/2 miles, according to the state Health Department.

All providers saw a decrease in case loads from 2011 to 2012, data from the state Health Department show.

Caseload for fiscal year 2011

Morton Health Services 17,451

Planned Parenthood 38,884

Tulsa Health Department 149,099

Margaret Hudson Program 1 6,606

Cost per participant for fiscal year 2011

Morton Health Services $9.54

Planned Parenthood $11.86

Tulsa Health Department $10.95

Margaret Hudson Program $11.05

Caseload for fiscal year 2012*

Morton Health Services 12,030

Planned Parenthood 27,550

Tulsa Health Department 113,381

Margaret Hudson Program 13,298

Cost per participant for fiscal year 2012*

Morton Health Services $8.67

Planned Parenthood $12.07

Tulsa Health Department $11.63

Margaret Hudson Program $11.79

* The WIC program's fiscal year ends in September, but data for the last couple of months are not yet available.

Original Print Headline: Defending the services

Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Planned Parenthood client Tiffany Rosales holds her baby, 11-month-old Ezequias, and stands with her older sons Zeke, 7, and Lazaro, 9, outsidetheir Tulsa home. Rosales says that when Women, Infants and Children services are no longer provided through Planned Parenthood clinics, she probablywon’t continue to take advantage of the WIC program. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

Planned Parenthood client Tiffany Rosales holds her baby, 11-month-old Ezequias, and stands withher older sons Zeke, 7, and Lazaro, 9, in the backyard of their Tulsa home. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World

Planned Parenthood client Tiffany Rosales carries her 11-montholdson, Ezequias, inside after checking on her other two sons,who are playing with other children in the backyard at their Tulsahome. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World