By Sue Hutchison

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte’s North Las Vegas health center has seen more than 4,000 patients since it opened a year ago (April, 2025), an indication of how essential its quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care services are in the region.

In fact, the first walk-in patient in April, 2025 received PPMM’s first-ever rapid syphilis testing, which led to immediate treatment for an infection that could have gone undetected and caused major health problems. “Since opening day at our North Las Vegas health center, patients have expressed to us how grateful they are,” PPMM Chief Medical Operating Officer Dr. Laura Dalton said.

PPMM, the largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country, has covered mid-California and northern Nevada for decades and began serving the entire state of Nevada last year. The demand in southern Nevada has been so strong that fundraising has begun for the organization to open another health center in the Las Vegas area. PPMM is already strategically researching health care needs in the larger community and is prepared to start work on a new site once the funds have been secured.

“We are proud to bring our compassionate, non-judgmental expertise to a region that had demonstrated need, including preventing cervical cancer, identifying early breast cancer, effectively treating STIs the same day, and providing examination for common infections,” Dalton said. “We’ve seen patients waiting to replace expired IUDs and implants because they just couldn’t find a trusted provider they could afford.”

PPMM’s core sexual and reproductive health services, including telehealth care through phone and video, include:

• HIV services, including PEP and PrEP
• STI testing and screening, including rapid testing with same-day results
• Gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and surgery referrals
• Birth control
• Cervical/breast cancer screening
• Medication abortion, with health care provider on-site
• Emergency contraception

Though reproductive health services have been under political attack in much of the country, Nevada is a reproductive freedom state with a legislature that supports access to the services Planned Parenthood provides. Voters have overwhelmingly supported Question 6, a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, and they’ll have a final vote on it in the 2026 mid-term election.

There has also been strong support for PPMM’s North Las Vegas health center from community leaders and patients. “Access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care saves lives and allows individuals the opportunity to plan their lives in a way that works the best for them,” Dalton said. “It decreases the morbidity and mortality associated with STIs, including infertility and maternal risks.”

Since Planned Parenthood was targeted in the Trump administration’s 2025 budget bill that prohibited the federal Medicaid program from reimbursing the organization for services provided, PPMM has pivoted to a new business model to ensure that it remains sustainable for years to come.

One of the pillars in what PPMM is calling the “Bridge to Care” campaign, is the launch of new services that are provided on a cash basis, to drive revenue, as well as being available at a reduced rate for our existing patients. These are being offered in addition to the organization’s reproductive and sexual health care, and they will not affect PPMM’s capacity to provide those core services.
New Services

The first two are treatment for perimenopause, which is provided via telehealth, and sedation with services to address the needs of patients who have often felt dismissed by other providers when they are seeking relief for pain and discomfort.

One patient who sought PPMM’s sedation services said that she had been avoiding regular pelvic exams because she was very concerned about having a painful experience. She said she was relieved to have sedation at PPMM and not be made to feel that she was asking for something inappropriate because she had anxiety about pain.

PPMM’s Senior Medical Director Dr. Margaux Lazarin said she has heard similar reactions from perimenopause patients who are tired of being made to feel guilty by providers who say they’re not exercising or sleeping enough instead of receiving straightforward treatment for symptoms.

“A lot of our (perimenopause) patients are at a point in their lives where maybe they’re at the peak of their career,” Lazarin said. “Maybe they have a lot of parenting responsibilities, and at the same time they’re trying to balance aging parents.

“The result of having to juggle all of that while their bodies are changing is unique to this patient population. We’re able to validate their experience and say, ‘There’s a really easy tool here that you can use to feel like yourself and regain that confidence to be able to manage it.’”

The North Las Vegas health center will have other new services coming this year for patients who pay on a cash basis, including IV hydration available on weekends and aesthetic services that will include Botox and fillers.

“I really think about access and health equity for our patients, and I think there’s this sentiment where we believe certain services are not meant to be offered to everyone, and they’re kind of specialty services,” Dalton said. “When we focus on bodily autonomy and reducing stigma around services such as abortion, we should do the same thing for additional services. It’s really about bringing a dignified experience to our patients.”

This article was originally published in the 2022 New Year Issue of Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine, and can be read in its original format here.