— First Lady Trudi Inslee
Washington
Upstream Washington is a multi-year initiative launched by Upstream USA to ensure all women have access to the full range of birth control methods in a single visit by providing training and technical assistance to health centers.
Unplanned Pregnancy
In Washington, at least 35% of all pregnancies are unintended.
According to Guttmacher Institute, publicly supported family planing centers served 112,800 female contraceptive clients in 2014. They met 26% of Washington women’s need for contraceptive services and supplies.
In 2010, the federal and state government spent $468 million on unintended pregnancies.
“We are proudly strengthening our efforts to expand women’s healthcare by launching a public-private partnership to make the full range of birth control methods more widely available to the women of Washington. Women should have control of their own health and futures, including prevention of unplanned pregnancies. To reach this goal, the Washington State Department of Health will join forces with the non-profit Upstream USA.”
How we’re increasing access to contraception in Washington:
Providing training and technical assistance to publicly funded and private healthcare providers across the state to ensure their patients are offered the full range of contraceptive methods in a single appointment at no or low cost.
Working with state agencies to ensure that there are no barriers preventing women from accessing same-day birth control method of her choice.
Increasing public knowledge and awareness of contraceptive options and where low or no cost contraception can be obtained through consumer marketing campaigns.
Creating a rigorous evaluation of Upstream Washington so that the impact of our work can be understood both in and outside of Washington.
Our work in health centers
“I had absolutely no idea of how involved Upstream would become in the inner workings of our health center, how connected they would become to our staff and providers and to the mission of the center, and how they would keep such a high energy level for the goals all the way through.”
— Dr. Tracy Kedian, Associate Medical Director for Perinatal Services, Family Health Center of Worcester
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee includes the following members (and is still in formation):
- Trudi Inslee, First Lady, State of Washington (Honorary Chair)
- Sue Birch, Washington State Health Care Authority
- Christine Charbonneau, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands
- Federico Cruz-Uribe, MD, MPH, Sea Mar Community Health Centers
- Cynthia Harris, Washington State Department of Health
- Kirsten Harris-Talley, SurgeNW
- Bob Marsalli, Washington Association of Community and Migrant Health Centers
- Linda McCarthy, Planned Parenthood of Mt. Baker
- Jan Olmstead, MPA, JWO Consulting LLC
- Alison Poulsen, Better Health Together
- Sarah Prager, MD, MAS, University of Washington
- Kasey Rivas, MPH, March of Dimes
- Valerie Tarico, PhD, Psychologist and Author
- John Wiesman, DrPH, MPH, Washington State Department of Health
