Have testicles and don’t want kids … ever? Now, you can head on down to Jefferson County Public Health.
For the first time, the local health agency will offer in-house vasectomies on a sliding scale. Each Friday, around 10 patients can get a scalpel-free contraceptive operation.
“We are really just wanting to ensure that everyone in the community has the opportunity to access affordable reproductive healthcare and contraception," said Hisae Tsurumi, a sexual health nurse practitioner for Jefferson County Public Health.
Federal funding for reproductive health care has been far from certain this year. The clinic hopes the money raised from in-house vasectomies will subsidize its other sexual health programs.
Offering in-house vasectomies is a rare move for public clinics like JCPH’s, though Denver Health offers similar procedures. In 2012, researchers found that only about 7% of publicly funded family planning organizations offered vasectomies. It’s far more common to offer female contraception.
Clients do not have to live in Jefferson County. The procedures will be offered at the Lakewood clinic at 645 Parfet St.
