By Emma Friedlander
friedlan@grinnell.edu
Central Iowa Family Planning (CIFP) decided on Tuesday, Nov. 1 that it will be closing its Grinnell office effective Nov. 7, according to the Times-Republican. The closure of the Grinnell office will be accompanied by the closure of the Marshalltown office on Nov. 14, thus closing the last two remaining CIFP offices in the state.
Many Grinnell College students who rely on CIFP for affordable healthcare and medication will be adversely impacted by the closure of the office. Without a free reproductive health clinic in town, students may need to travel as far as Des Moines or Iowa City to fulfill their healthcare needs. Throughout this morning, Thursday, Nov. 3, the Grinnell office called its patients informing them of the closure and recommending that all patients refill their prescriptions by the end of the day today.
SHACS and Vice President of Student Affairs Andrea Conner will release further information to students later today. The College’s Sexual Health Information Center (SHIC) posted on its Facebook page today, “We are looking into alternatives for health care, and will post them here once we have answers.”
This article will be updated as the story develops.
