About Us

About Us

History
In 1973, a group of committed men and women in Boulder formed Boulder Valley Clinic, the first abortion clinic in the state, committed to assuring all women access to safe and affordable abortion services. From the beginning, we have been a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community.

Over the years, our name changed to Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center as we expanded the services offered:

Here, for example, a low-income woman can get free birth control pills. An uninsured woman can have complex gynecological surgery on a sliding fee scale. A woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy can receive those services in an environment that is safe and preserves her dignity. A teenager can have access to free sexual health education and, if sexually active, free birth control, and diagnosis and treatment for STIs (sexually transmitted infections). A menopausal woman can receive holistic, integrative solutions to her unique health challenges. By offering a full range of gynecological services, most on a sliding fee scale, we help ensure that every woman has access to quality reproductive health care.

Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center is now known as Women’s Health. Our new name emphasizes our goal – to assure quality healthcare for every woman. Our logo represents our vision of what a healthy woman embodies: strength, exuberance, possibility!

Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission: The Mission of Women’s Health (Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center) is to provide accessible, confidential and comprehensive gynecological and reproductive healthcare, including sexual health services and education.

Vision: Women’s Health envisions a healthy community of people empowered to make informed choices about their sexual health and well-being.

Core Values: Women's Health will meet its mission:

By providing quality healthcare and services regardless of a client’s insured status or economic circumstances;
With respect for the dignity of our clients;
With compassion and caring;
By remaining committed to reproductive freedom;
By actively including those who experience unique barriers to healthcare access including mono-lingual Spanish speakers, youth, GLBTQI*, racial/ethnic/cultural communities and people with disabilities;
By providing medically accurate, comprehensive and respectful education;
By utilizing resources in a way that provides healthcare within our scope of practice and consistent with the standard of care to as many clients as possible; and
By providing a work environment for all employees that is affirming and respectful of them as individuals and empowers and encourages success.

*GLBTQI: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning/Queer, Intersexed.

Statement of Need
Women have unique health care needs, particularly when they are of reproductive age. These unique needs include access to preventive health services, like breast exams, mammograms and Pap smears, which can diagnose abnormalities early while treatment is most effective and least invasive.

Once sexually active, women's unique needs increase to include reproductive health care. High quality reproductive care that women can trust, assures that women remain in control of their reproductive lives, bearing children only if and when they can adequately care for them. Reproductive health care can also help a woman preserve her fertility for that time when she is ready to parent a child.

Perhaps most important, women who stay in control of their reproductive life have the greatest chance for overall success in life. Women in control can finish their schooling, take time to choose a life partner, and raise a family when financially and emotionally ready to do so.

Unfortunately, many women face barriers to reproductive health care. The primary barrier remains cost. But other significant barriers are present as well, including mistrust, societal pressures, concerns about confidentiality, language and age.

According to the Center for Policy Alternatives, women of childbearing age spend 68% more in out of pocket health care costs than men, mostly due to reproductive health care services. 7 out of every 10 are sexually active and do not wish to become pregnant. One of the major barriers to universal contraceptive access is the high cost. Costs for supplies alone can run approximately $360 per year for oral contraceptives; $180 per year for Depo-Provera; $450 for Norplant; and $240 for an IUD. A woman who wants two children (the average in the U.S.) will have to use contraception for more than two decades of her life. Adding to the burden of cost is the fact that, while 97 percent of all traditional indemnity plans cover prescription drugs, only 33 percent cover "The Pill."

The struggle for low income or uninsured women is even greater. In Boulder County, 70% of low-income women have no health insurance. The State Department of Public Health and Environment estimates that there are over 22,000 women in need of subsidized family planning and gynecology services in Boulder County. In addition to preventive health needs, such as contraception and cancer screening, data from the National Health Interview Survey reveal that roughly one in ten women between 18-50 years of age suffers from at least one chronic gynecological condition each year. Problems such as menstrual disorders, ovarian cysts, tumors and endometriosis can take a toll on the woman, her partner and her family. Specialized treatment can be extremely expensive.

Teens also face barriers to care. By Colorado law, teens can access reproductive healthcare without parental consent, however, many do not due to ignorance, fear or cost. The result is a teen pregnancy rate far higher than other industrialized countries. 1 in 4 sexually active teens will get a sexually transmitted infection each year and 30% of teens having sex report using NO form of protection against pregnancy and infections.

The greatest barriers remain in the area of access to abortion services. 87% of all US counties have no identifiable abortion provider. In non-metropolitan areas, the figure rises to 97%. As a result, many women must travel long distances to reach the nearest abortion provider.

But distance is not the only barrier women face. Many other factors have contributed to the current crisis in abortion access, including a shortage of trained abortion providers; state laws that make getting an abortion more complicated than is medically necessary; continued threats of violence and harassment at abortion clinics; state and federal Medicaid restrictions; and fewer hospitals providing abortion services

The cost of a first trimester abortion has increased only slightly since 1973, but many women still cannot afford the fee. The Hyde Amendment denies federal Medicaid funding for abortions except in specific, rare circumstances, and most states have similar laws restricting financial help to women who need abortions. More than 2/3 of women must initially pay for their abortions themselves -- only 14% of abortions are paid for with a state's public funds, and only 13% are covered by a woman's private insurance at the time of her abortion. A small number of women may be reimbursed by insurance after their abortion.

The result is that too many women who need abortions must wait while they raise funds, postponing their abortions until later in their pregnancies, when the costs of these more complicated abortion procedures are higher. For women who are struggling to make ends meet and do not have insurance that covers abortion, the legal right to have an abortion does not guarantee that they will have access to it.

Women's Health is dedicated to assuring that ALL women have access to the unique health care services they require.


		About Us History In 1973, a group of committed men and women in Boulder formed Boulder Valley Clinic, the first abortion clinic in the state, committed to assuring all women access to safe and affordable abortion services. From the beginning, we have been a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the community. Over the years, our name changed to Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center as we expanded the services offered: Here, for example, a low-income woman can get free birth control pills. An uninsured woman can have complex gynecological surgery on a sliding fee scale. A woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy can receive those services in an environment that is safe and preserves her dignity. A teenager can have access to free sexual health education and, if sexually active, free birth control, and diagnosis and treatment for STIs (sexually transmitted infections). A menopausal woman can receive holistic, integrative solutions to her unique health challenges. By offering a full range of gynecological services, most on a sliding fee scale, we help ensure that every woman has access to quality reproductive health care. Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center is now known as Women’s Health. Our new name emphasizes our goal – to assure quality healthcare for every woman. Our logo represents our vision of what a healthy woman embodies: strength, exuberance, possibility! Mission, Vision, and Values Mission: The Mission of Women’s Health (Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center) is to provide accessible, confidential and comprehensive gynecological and reproductive healthcare, including sexual health services and education. Vision: Women’s Health envisions a healthy community of people empowered to make informed choices about their sexual health and well-being. Core Values: Women's Health will meet its mission: By providing quality healthcare and services regardless of a client’s insured status or economic circumstances; With respect for the dignity of our clients; With compassion and caring; By remaining committed to reproductive freedom; By actively including those who experience unique barriers to healthcare access including mono-lingual Spanish speakers, youth, GLBTQI, racial/ethnic/cultural communities and people with disabilities; By providing medically accurate, comprehensive and respectful education; By utilizing resources in a way that provides healthcare within our scope of practice and consistent with the standard of care to as many clients as possible; and By providing a work environment for all employees that is affirming and respectful of them as individuals and empowers and encourages success. GLBTQI: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning/Queer, Intersexed. Statement of Need Women have unique health care needs, particularly when they are of reproductive age. These unique needs include access to preventive health services, like breast exams, mammograms and Pap smears, which can diagnose abnormalities early while treatment is most effective and least invasive. Once sexually active, women's unique needs increase to include reproductive health care. High quality reproductive care that women can trust, assures that women remain in control of their reproductive lives, bearing children only if and when they can adequately care for them. Reproductive health care can also help a woman preserve her fertility for that time when she is ready to parent a child. Perhaps most important, women who stay in control of their reproductive life have the greatest chance for overall success in life. Women in control can finish their schooling, take time to choose a life partner, and raise a family when financially and emotionally ready to do so. Unfortunately, many women face barriers to reproductive health care. The primary barrier remains cost. But other significant barriers are present as well, including mistrust, societal pressures, concerns about confidentiality, language and age. According to the Center for Policy Alternatives, women of childbearing age spend 68% more in out of pocket health care costs than men, mostly due to reproductive health care services. 7 out of every 10 are sexually active and do not wish to become pregnant. One of the major barriers to universal contraceptive access is the high cost. Costs for supplies alone can run approximately $360 per year for oral contraceptives; $180 per year for Depo-Provera; $450 for Norplant; and $240 for an IUD. A woman who wants two children (the average in the U.S.) will have to use contraception for more than two decades of her life. Adding to the burden of cost is the fact that, while 97 percent of all traditional indemnity plans cover prescription drugs, only 33 percent cover "The Pill." The struggle for low income or uninsured women is even greater. In Boulder County, 70% of low-income women have no health insurance. The State Department of Public Health and Environment estimates that there are over 22,000 women in need of subsidized family planning and gynecology services in Boulder County. In addition to preventive health needs, such as contraception and cancer screening, data from the National Health Interview Survey reveal that roughly one in ten women between 18-50 years of age suffers from at least one chronic gynecological condition each year. Problems such as menstrual disorders, ovarian cysts, tumors and endometriosis can take a toll on the woman, her partner and her family. Specialized treatment can be extremely expensive. Teens also face barriers to care. By Colorado law, teens can access reproductive healthcare without parental consent, however, many do not due to ignorance, fear or cost. The result is a teen pregnancy rate far higher than other industrialized countries. 1 in 4 sexually active teens will get a sexually transmitted infection each year and 30% of teens having sex report using NO form of protection against pregnancy and infections. The greatest barriers remain in the area of access to abortion services. 87% of all US counties have no identifiable abortion provider. In non-metropolitan areas, the figure rises to 97%. As a result, many women must travel long distances to reach the nearest abortion provider. But distance is not the only barrier women face. Many other factors have contributed to the current crisis in abortion access, including a shortage of trained abortion providers; state laws that make getting an abortion more complicated than is medically necessary; continued threats of violence and harassment at abortion clinics; state and federal Medicaid restrictions; and fewer hospitals providing abortion services The cost of a first trimester abortion has increased only slightly since 1973, but many women still cannot afford the fee. The Hyde Amendment denies federal Medicaid funding for abortions except in specific, rare circumstances, and most states have similar laws restricting financial help to women who need abortions. More than 2/3 of women must initially pay for their abortions themselves -- only 14% of abortions are paid for with a state's public funds, and only 13% are covered by a woman's private insurance at the time of her abortion. A small number of women may be reimbursed by insurance after their abortion. The result is that too many women who need abortions must wait while they raise funds, postponing their abortions until later in their pregnancies, when the costs of these more complicated abortion procedures are higher. For women who are struggling to make ends meet and do not have insurance that covers abortion, the legal right to have an abortion does not guarantee that they will have access to it. Women's Health is dedicated to assuring that ALL women have access to the unique health care services they require. Publications Read the current issue of our newsletter The Positive Voice. Read our monthly Public Policy Report. Read our 2006 Annual Report. Home