Planned Parenthood to open new Florida clinics after past mismanagement closes five

Miami, Fla., Jul 1, 2009 / 21:09 pm

A year after five Planned Parenthood clinics in Florida were shut down amid financial mismanagement including a missing $440,000, the organization is opening new clinics in Pembroke Pines and Oakland Park.

Clinics with Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties where shut down and disaffiliated from the national Planned Parenthood organization, the Miami Herald reports. The local organization could not account for about $440,000 of its $3 million budget.

The new clinics will be opened in August and operated under a different entity, Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast. It is the largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the state.

According to the Miami Herald, the Broward health centers will cover exams, HIV testing and access to birth control. It was not reported whether they will provide abortions.

A press release from Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast described itself as a “trusted health care provider” which produces “critical reproductive health care and education services.”

Lillian A. Tamayo, President and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Affiliate, said there was an “overwhelming need” for “affordable reproductive health services” and “comprehensive sex education.”

The financial mismanagement at Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach and Broward Counties echoes other problems at Florida abortion clinics.

In February the Florida Board of Medicine revoked the medical license of abortionist Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique. Renelique headed a Hialeah, Florida clinic where clinic owner Belkis Gonzalez allegedly placed a live baby girl in the trash after an abortion failed to kill her.