DENVER — For the first time in the hospital system's history, Denver Health is now offering elective abortions. The Reproductive Choice Clinic opened in early November to serve patients one day per week.
"It’s always been a dream for us to be able to offer this to our patients. We are very proud that this moment has come," said Dr. Spencer McClelland, OB-GYN at Denver Health and medical director of the new clinic. "It was felt that Denver Health was at the time where we needed to offer this service up front."
The service is intended to be a one-time, in-person appointment. Leading up to that, patients will undergo a telehealth screening.
"The main purpose is actually to streamline the process of when patients are here in the clinic. So much of barriers to abortion care is about breaking that process into many extra steps in terms of extra in-person visits. We wanted that to be as clean as possible, and to be able to see as many patients as possible since we are not offering this five days a week," McClelland said.
So far, Denver Health has offered the service to in-state patients. However, they expect that out-of-state patients may also look to them as an option.
"As for the out of state part, that is really something we are waiting to see. We presume that we will be seeing patients from out of state," McClelland said.
The only requirement is that patients must be in the state at the time of the telehealth screening, which is three days before the in-person appointment.
Most insurance providers do not cover the cost of an abortion. Given that most of Denver Health's patients are uninsured, underinsured or on Medicaid/Medicare, patients may seek out other funding mechanisms or aid to help offset the cost.
"Patients will go ahead and make their appointment at any of the providers that we partner with," said Laura Chapin, spokesperson for Cobalt. "Then they will let us know that we need assistance paying for the procedure."
The Cobalt Abortion Fund helps those who may not be able to afford the cost of an abortion. In most in-state cases, it is help with the cost of the actual procedure. For out-of-state patients, the organization may also help with transportation costs.
"Overall the fund is looking at spending about five times as much in 2023 as we did in 2021, which was before the Supreme Court decision," Chapin said.
Denver Health hopes that by offering elective abortions, it will open up more options to those who are searching for reproductive care.
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