Providing Teen-Friendly Care in Montana
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I decided to go to Teen Clinic after hearing about it during a presentation at school. When I got there, everyone was really nice. They took their time explaining things to me and made sure I felt comfortable. We discussed all of my birth control options and I ended up getting an IUD that day! I tell all my friends to go to Teen Clinic.Teen Clinic Client
Flathead Family Planning in Kalispell, Montana, a subrecipient of Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services, has been successfully operating a teen walk-in clinic for over a decade. Teen Clinic is conveniently located near to two high schools and several social service agencies, and offers after-school hours to increase access to care.
Teen Clinic is designed for teens, and maintaining confidentiality is a top priority. The teen-friendly waiting room has free WiFi, modern music, and Bedsider.org videos streaming on a television. An ongoing challenge of offering a teen clinic is being able to get the word out to adolescents about available healthcare services. Two staff health educators conduct outreach to over 3,000 adolescents a year, discussing STI prevention and unplanned pregnancy prevention, as well as providing information about other services.
During COVID-19, Flathead Family Planning has employed safeguards to protect patients, including a screening and triage station at the entrance of the building, separate waiting rooms for sick and well patients, requiring staff and patients to wear masks, and placing waiting room chairs 3-6 feet apart. Staff also launched telemedicine appointments to limit the number of patients coming to the clinic.