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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 1, 2005 Planned Parenthood opens in Ashland By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings With big windows, tall ceilings and a walled-in back patio that catches the afternoon sun, the Ashland Planned Parenthood on the corner of Siskiyou Boulevard and Walker Street could have housed any number of business ventures. The space could have worked for a brewpub, the architect who designed the clinic joked as he gave a tour of the new 2,400-square-foot facility. "It's warm; it's not sterile," said architect Jac Nickels of Architectural Design Works. "We actually designed the whole building." The 60 people who gathered Tuesday to celebrate the opening of the Planned Parenthood, as well as the almost-50 clients the clinic has seen since it opened a week ago, are tickled the facility has finally come to Ashland. "This really is a dream come true here," said Catherine Hayes, a long-time Ashland resident and retired public school teacher who attended the opening. "I'm a big supporter of Planned Parenthood." The new 2,400-square-foot clinic will provide all of the services the Medford facility offers: all FDA-approved contraceptive methods, emergency contraception, pregnancy testing and counseling, testing for HIV and sexually transmitted infections, services and referrals for men, mid-life services and annual exams, including breast exams, pelvic exams and Pap tests. The clinic will also recruit local volunteers and activists for advocacy efforts and put on educational programs in the Ashland area. One of the best features of the new clinic, according to employees and supporters, is the facility's hours. The Ashland Planned Parenthood is open from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays and 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. "The great thing is you can walk-in," said a female client who attends Southern Oregon University. "It's perfect when you have five minutes between class." Almost 20 people popped in for services on Monday, a number Planned Parenthood officials expect will balloon in the next few months. It takes about 3 months for a clinic to get up and running at its capacity," said Diane Duke, a senior vice-president at Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, which serves Lane County and Southern Oregon. "Eventually we're going to be seeing about 30 clients a day." The facility sits on the bus line and is walking distance from the campuses of Southern Oregon University and Ashland High School. However, in the first week, most of the clients have not been high school or university students. Most people coming through the doors have been young professional women and men, according to Stacy Kostenbauer, the clinic manager who previously worked at Planned Parenthood facilities in Grants Pass and Eugene. "This first week, it's been amazing," Kostenbauer said. "I came from Grants Pass, where our average age was like 16 or 17." The new clinic, just one of the expansions in the works for Planned Parenthood Services of Southwestern Oregon, will help alleviate some of the pressure on the organization's Medford clinic. The size of the new clinic is comparable to the current Medford facility, which serves all of Jackson County at this point. Planned Parenthood, which received a $10,000 grant from the Carpenter Foundation, funds from the Howard Family Foundation and has done fundraisers in the Rogue Valley to fund the Ashland clinic, will also open a new facility in downtown Medford later this year and rural health clinics on the coast in Florence and south of Eugene in Cottage Grove. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams