Planned Parenthood agencies to merge

Planned Parenthood of Northern New York and Northern Adirondack Planned Parenthood will merge to form Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York Inc. by early 2009.

No jobs will be lost as a result of the merger, and all eight Planned Parenthood centers between the two agencies will remain open.

Kathie L. Wunderlich, nurse practitioner and chief executive officer of Northern Adirondack Planned Parenthood, said both Planned Parenthood affiliates are coming together simply to enhance the reproductive health care, education and case management services they offer.

"We feel we'll be able to do a better job of that together, rather than as two small affiliates," Ms. Wunderlich said. "We're both fiscally healthy, and we won't be changing anything except our administrative staff."

The headquarters of Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York Inc. will be in Watertown, but an administrative office will remain in Plattsburgh, where Northern Adirondack Planned Parenthood is based.

The only major changes, according to Ruth-Ellen Blodgett, chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Northern New York, will be that Ms. Wunderlich will be named the new affiliate's chief executive officer. Mrs. Blodgett will become executive vice president.

"This is really just about building efficiencies in administration," she said.

The Planned Parenthood health centers in Watertown, Lowville, Canton, Gouverneur, Ogdensburg, Saranac Lake, Malone and Plattsburgh will remain open. There will be no changes in care for clients.

All employees are guaranteed a job, but it may not be the same one they had before, Mrs. Blodgett said.

"We'll just be able to eliminate a duplication of staffing, so someone who has been doing fundraising, marketing and public advocacy will be able to do one of those things," she said.

The merger will allow the now-separate agencies to operate together under a $6 million budget.

This move fits both Planned Parenthood affiliates, Mrs. Blodgett said, because both agencies have nearly identical populations with a heavy college presence or low-income residents, for example.

She and Ms. Wunderlich said they hope to hear no later than June from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America on the merger and proposed name for the new Planned Parenthood. All of the regulatory work should be completed by the first quarter in 2009.

"In the meantime, though, we will be running two separate corporations, and our management teams will start to integrate our policies, procedures and marketing campaigns," Mrs. Blodgett said.

Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York Inc. will serve Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Clinton and Franklin counties.