Vasectomy services at Planned Parenthood in Southwest and Central Florida:
As of December 1, 2019, Drs. Stein and Curington
will no longer provide vasectomy services at Planned Parenthood. This
was NOT our choice nor that of Planned Parenthood. Drs. Stein and
Curington have
provided vasectomy services at various Planned Parenthood clinics since
1996. Since 1970, the Title X program has helped fund
contraceptive services (birth control pills, IUDs, vasectomy, etc.) for
uninsured men and women of low income, with Planned Parenthood being one
of the country’s largest and most well-respected providers of those
services.
TRUMP has changed all of that by issuing an
order that “none of the funds appropriated for Title X may be used in
programs where abortion is a method of family planning”, not even the funds used for the contraceptives
that reduce the rate of abortion!
Since 1996, Dr. Stein has been one of the country's
most dedicated providers of vasectomy under Title X, now contracted with
32 of Florida’s 67 counties.
Dr. Curington has provided services under Title X in various clinics
across the country since 1997. Even if we never provide another Title X
vasectomy at Planned Parenthood (and provide them only at our “private”
office locations), “this rule will require Title X providers to maintain
physical and financial separation from locations which provide abortion
as a method of family planning,” which means that we cannot provide
vasectomy EVEN FOR OUR PRIVATE (non-Title X) patients at Planned
Parenthood.
Given our long history with Planned Parenthood, we
thought long and hard about no longer providing vasectomies under
Title
X, since it amounts to a small percentage of our practice income. We
considered, "Let
the 32 counties scramble for other vasectomy providers". But Title X vasectomy providers are hard to find
because Title X does not
pay for complications like the very rare scrotal blood clot that has to
be drained in an operating room. And Title X patients, by definition,
have no health insurance, which puts ALL of the financial liability on
the doctor. We are dedicated enough to preventing unintended pregnancies
that we accept that liability while few other doctors will. Would there
be any public sympathy for these low-income men if 32 counties were left
without a Title X vasectomy provider? Based upon past public reactions,
probably not. The attitude is, “Let them go somewhere else and pay.” The
point is that many don’t have the means to pay, many are already on
other entitlement programs, and many will go on to cause more unintended
pregnancies, the products of which will swell the enrollments of those
same entitlement programs, further adding to the tax burden that we all
bear. But the general public usually does not think far enough ahead to
see this last point.
Has it ever been an issue of quality? Five-star reviews are what we have
received about the offices and personnel at the Planned Parenthood
Clinics in Orlando, Lakeland, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, and Naples. Again,
this was NOT our choice.
In fact, we retain all of the information below with the hope that the
election of 2020 will result in a new administration, a more rational
health care policy, and a return to
provision of vasectomy services at Planned Parenthood.
Vasectomy in Southwest & Central, Florida:
Vasectomy services are provided by
Drs. Doug Stein and
John Curingtonn at the
Planned Parenthood
of Southwest and Central Florida clinics in Orlando, Lakeland, Sarasota, Ft. Myers,
and Naples. The fee is $590, less for those who
have coverage under an
insurance plan
with whom we are contracted. and there is usually NO FEE for (1)
veterans and (2)
those men without health insurance who qualify under
Title 10.
Exact service dates
are in Dr. Stein's Outfield
Schedule page. Here are addresses and phone numbers:
11500 University Boulevard | Orlando 32817 | (407) 246-1788 | Click here for photos & maps. |
736 Central Avenue | Sarasota 34236-4042 | (941) 953-4060 | Click here for photos & maps. |
8595 College Parkway #31 | Ft. Myers 33919* | (239) 481-9999 | Click here for photos & maps. |
2250 E Edgewood Drive | Lakeland 33803 | (863) 665-5735 | Click here for photos & maps. |
1425 Creech Road | Naples 34103 | (239) 262-0301 | Click here for photos & maps. |
All scheduling of vasectomies is done through
Dr. Stein and Curington's main office at 813-5361430. Convenient Thursday
(Sarasota, Lakeland and Orlando) and Saturday (Ft. Myers
and Naples) no-scalpel
no-needle vasectomies are done by
Drs. Doug Stein and John
Curington. (A copy of their vasectomy instructions and information are available
here
as a PDF file.