Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium is yet again expanding its services in Juneau.
This time, a spokesperson says the Alaska Native-run health care organization is renovating the former Planned Parenthood building in Lemon Creek into a new specialty care clinic.
The future clinic will offer cardiology, dermatology and rheumatology services. Construction is underway and the organization’s goal is to open the facility later this fall.
The building formerly housed Juneau’s Planned Parenthood, which permanently closed last November. Planned Parenthood said it closed the building because it needed expensive repairs and the Trump administration has threatened the organization’s funding.
Its closure means Juneau and the surrounding Southeast Alaska communities have less access to reproductive healthcare. The remaining two Planned Parenthood health centers are Fairbanks and Anchorage.
SEARHC’s new clinic will not offer reproductive healthcare services. According to SEARHC, the project is a part of the health care organization’s “commitment to expand access to high-demand specialty services in Juneau.”
The spokesperson says bringing the multiple services under one roof will make it more convenient and coordinated for patients receiving care.
SEARHC has rapidly expanded its services in Juneau and Southeast Alaska in recent years. In the past two years, it has acquired Southeast Medical Clinic, Juneau Youth Services, Juneau Obstetrics and Gynecology and Juneau Physical Therapy – and many other clinics throughout the region. This spring, it announced plans to build a new dental clinic in Mendenhall Valley.
