County partners with Planned Parenthood in Mountain View

SAN JOSE – On Tuesday, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a partnership with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte designed to augment health care services in the North County and improve care coordination for shared patients of Planned Parenthood and the County’s health care system.

Under the new partnership, the County will lease a section of Planned Parenthood’s new facility in Mountain View to provide specialty services, including pediatric dental services.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte purchased the new building last year, after the announcement that its lease on the San Antonio Road site, the only Planned Parenthood clinic between Redwood City and San Jose, where it has provided health care services for the past 20 years would not be renewed.

In February of 2017 Simitian asked the Board of Supervisors and County staff to “act with urgency”, in finding a solution, which he originally imagined would involve Planned Parenthood leasing a portion of a County-owned property.

“If Planned Parenthood has a problem, we have a problem,” said Simitian at the time. “The Fifth Supervisorial District (which includes cities in the North County and West Valley), is the only Supervisor’s district without a County health clinic. That means that we rely on a network of community health clinics and non-profits like Planned Parenthood to provide these essential services.”

The purchase of property for a new clinic site by Planned Parenthood negated the need for the County to secure a site, and still offered the opportunity to expand services.

“Sometimes things work out exactly the way you plan, except totally the opposite,” Simitian said. “Initially we thought the County would have a building with space for Planned Parenthood; as it turns out, Planned Parenthood has a building with space for County health care. Either way, it’s a great partnership, allowing us to do even more for the folks we both serve. I think a long-term partnership with Planned Parenthood and the County providing complimentary services in the same place has tremendous potential.”

The lease will run for 7 years with one 5-year option to renew at fair market value.

“Side by side, each focusing on the areas of their greatest strengths, I think the potential is there for Planned Parenthood and the County to team up in a very powerful way,” said Simitian. “A long-term partnership is a win for the County, Planned Parenthood, and the patients we serve.”

The site will be used by Santa Clara Valley Medical Center to host services complimentary to those offered by Planned Parenthood, including a specialty pediatric dental clinic, along with flex space to house specialty services to support the needs of Planned Parenthood patients, which could include cardiology, orthopedics, and urology, or others.  

Planned Parenthood cares for an estimated 8,095 patients a year at their Mountain View clinic, more than 80% of whom are Santa Clara County residents. There are 2,131 members of the County-owned and operated Valley Health Plan assigned to primary care providers at the Planned Parenthood clinic.

While 70% of the clinic’s patients earn below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (the upper limit of Medi-Cal financial eligibility), only 24% are eligible for Medi-Cal. Without Planned Parenthood, these patients are left with few options for accessing reproductive health services and primary care where they live or work.

“Planned Parenthood Mar Monte is very excited about this partnership with Santa Clara County. Together, we will be able to provide more health care services to individuals and families in Mountain View and surrounding communities” said Stacy Cross, CEO of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.  "We opened our first Mountain View health center in 1973 and remain staunchly committed to providing health care to these community members who’ve relied on our services for more than four decades in this community."

The move to work collaboratively with Planned Parenthood builds upon earlier efforts by Simitian and the County to expand health services in the North County, including a partnership with the Ravenswood Clinic in East Palo Alto, urgent care access at the Sunnyvale Valley Health Clinic, and access to behavioral care and mental health services at MayView Community Health Center.