A way forward
Reproductive health care gets a local spin with planned clinic

Former 18-year Planned Parenthood nurse Ginny Laidler has temporarily set aside her scrubs for business casual wear. It’s a new uniform of sorts, as she made her way in front of a crowd on a recent Saturday at the Durango Public Library. She was there to share progress in landing a local, independent reproductive health clinic here, unaffiliated with PP.

Health care was just one breakout group at this event, hosted by Indivisible Durango. More and more chairs pulled into Laidler’s circle, reshaping it into a dented oval of 28 community members, squeezed in tight to hear plans and actions so far.

Her news was warmly received. But it took some explaining. Laidler’s efforts might seem to destabilize a social order in reproductive care. Although Durango’s PP clinic closed in September, the national nonprofit has earned a distinguished track record as a high-quality, affordable provider of nonjudgmental care since 1916.

Planned Parenthood has always been an inspiration. 

So letting go of the belief that PP can successfully return to Durango – and uniquely serve patients – is not to be taken lightly. And it’s no slight.

It’s just that changes have shifted the effectiveness of PP’s urban business model in rural areas. PP is sizable and substantial in ways that require focused attention in other arenas, including legislation, legal matters and administration on a large scale.

Conversely, with an independent clinic, a collective of local professionals can concentrate on what’s best, in particular, for patients in the Four Corners. Creating their own workplace culture matters, too.

“It’s absolutely a homegrown effort, coming from us – reproductive health care providers – seeing the need,” Laidler said. “It came from Durango.”

Within PP’s urban model was control coming from Denver, from hiring to daily scheduling, rather than locally. Some say our local PP clinic lacked agency. Staff burnout and high turnover came in the fallout. 

Of course, in rural areas, telehealth and medication abortions are vital, and advocates are bracing for these resources to be on chopping blocks in the upcoming Trump administration. But some patients require in-person procedural abortions because of, for example, miscarriage or nonviable pregnancies. After 10 weeks of pregnancy, a procedural abortion is required rather than a medication abortion.

PP has made clear it is “eager” to reopen in Durango. But, now, local providers backing the new clinic counts for a lot. 

About that new clinic. The nonprofit Wellspring Health Access is launching a capital campaign in what it calls our “critically important region.” The Wellspring clinic system, rooted in bodily autonomy and expanded access to essential services, was founded by Colorado resident Julie Burkhart. 

The first fundraising goal, ideally, is $750,000 by Jan. 31, 2025, to secure real estate. The total goal is $3.5 million and will fund everything, including clinicians’ salaries, supplies, an administrative team and more. 

Like Wellspring’s first clinic in Casper, Wyo., the full-spectrum Durango clinic will have a no-turn-away policy and welcome patients who can’t pay.

The new clinic would also meet the needs of travelers from states with limited or restricted abortion access. In September 2023, Adrienne Mansanares, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, told Colorado Public Radio, “About two out of every five of our abortion care patients don’t live in Colorado.”

That’s quite a lot of people coming to Colorado for abortions. And more are expected in 2025. 

As a nurse at PP, Laidler has done everything from performing ultrasounds and assisting in procedures to managing the clinic and holding hands of patients. Add to her skillset, organizing people who want to help in roles not yet defined. For now, donations are most beneficial. 

“We need everyone on board in our communities, in all of our grassroots efforts, to provide and care for each other,” she said.

For more information on the local clinic effort, go to: wellspringaccess.org or email hello@wellspringaccess.org. Donations can be sent to: P.O. Box 236, Durango, 81302.

Ann Marie Swan is a former opinion editor at The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez. She has worked in newsrooms at the Rocky Mountain News, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and Pacific Stars and Stripes in Tokyo.