Our Mission
Serving Snyder, Union, Northumberland, Mifflin and Juniata Counties, Family Planning Plus is a non-profit health care organization dedicated to providing confidential and accessible services through reproductive health to improve the quality of life and well-being of the community. The caring staff seeks to help couples plan families when they are ready, improve pregnancy outcomes, reduce unintended pregnancy, slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, detect cancer at early and curable stages, and educate the community about general health maintenance, sexuality, and reproductive health.
Notable Accomplishments
Family Planning provides reproductive health care services to approximately 2,000 clients each year, and educational services to an average of 1,000 community members per year. Other notable achievements include:
- Long-term member of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.
- National recognition in Contraceptive Technology Update for “Caring Couples,” an innovative male involvement program for the partners of teen clients.
- 1997 recipient of the Barb Sabol Memorial Award for teen pregnancy prevention.
- Recognition in 1997 from Senator Edward Helfrick’s office for outstanding work in the field of Teen Pregnancy Prevention.
- Board member of the North Central District AIDS Coalition.
- Participation in Pennsylvania’s Keeping Women Healthy initiative (1999-2000).
- 2002 recipient of the Reaching Out award given by Pennsylvania’s Insurance Department for the Children’s Health Outreach Project.
- Founder and coordinator of the Race for Women’s Health, an annual fundraiser originated and designed in 1999 to raise awareness about women’s health issues.
- Sole HealthyWoman Program provider (free breast and cervical cancer screening for eligible women) in the five county service area.
- Recipient of a 2008 ACTION Health Exemplary Community Partner Award, recognizing the agency’s contribution to the ACTION Health Cancer Task Force’s HPV education initiative.
- Recognition in 2009 from the Family Health Council of Central PA, Inc. for outstanding efforts in recruiting and enrolling SelectPlan for Women clients.
History
Family Planning…Plus was founded in 1972 as an outpatient department of Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg in response to the need for affordable, quality, reproductive health care for medically uninsured women. In 1975, Family Planning moved its Lewisburg office to a separate location, and became incorporated in 1977 as a private, non-profit corporation under the name of Family Planning Services of SUN Counties. Shortly after attaining its non-profit status, the agency opened two satellite offices in Hummels Wharf and Shamokin to improve accessibility to services.
Recognizing the need to expand services to better serve clients, the agency added both the PA Department of Health’s STD Program and the federally funded WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Program to its repertoire of basic family planning services in 1984. HIV antibody testing and counseling were added to STD Program services in 1991, and the agency became a HealthyWoman (free breast and cervical cancer screening for eligible women) provider in 1994 and is currently the sole provider in the service area.
In October of 1996, Mifflin and Juniata Counties of Pennsylvania became part of the agency’s territory through the acquisition of Women’s Health Services and the Mifflin/Juniata WIC Program, both located in Lewistown. To reflect the growth in services and geography and the unification of the SUN and MJ programs, the agency informally changed its name to Family Planning Plus of SUN & MJ counties.
Family Planning Plus currently operates three reproductive health clinics in Lewisburg, Shamokin and Selinsgrove. It operates one Family Planning satellite office in Lewistown. Each year, Family Planning Plus provides reproductive health care services to approximately 2,000 clients.