What's next for clients of NEICAC's Family Planning Clinic?

Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation Executive Director Mary Ann Humpal says the next four months will be busy for the staff of NEICAC's Family Planning Clinic in Decorah.

The clinic will close its doors after June 30th when their contract with the Iowa Department of Public Health ends.  Humpal said the clinic had been losing $90,000 in net expenses the last two years and NEICAC couldn't risk its overall financial stability by continuing to operate the Family Planning Clinic with those kinds of losses.

But she's concerned that the closing of the Decorah clinic will leave people without options in this part of the state and will force them to go to Waterloo or Dubuque for similar services.

In the meantime, staff members of the clinic will spend the next four months trying to get "long-term options" for the more than 600 clients.  For most of them, that will come in the form of IUDs.

Humpal does say NEICAC will continue a few other related programs after June 30th, such as a program that teaches prevention to high school students and another program, "Safe Haven," that works with pharmacies to make free condoms available.

In announcing the clinic closing earlier this week, Humpal called the closing "a sad day," but added, "there really wasn't any other option."