Washington

Upstream Washington is a multi-year partnership with the State of Washington to ensure all patients have access to the full range of birth control methods in a single visit by providing training and technical assistance to health centers.

Our approach empowers patients to decide when and if they want to become pregnant

We work with health care providers of all types, including hospitals, family planning agencies, local health departments, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Tribal and IHS providers, rural health centers and more to reduce barriers preventing patients from accessing the same-day birth control method of their choice.

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 the prevention of unplanned pregnancies. To reach this goal, the Washington State Department of Health will join forces with the non-profit Upstream USA.”
Trudi Inslee First Lady of Washington

35%

of all pregnancies in Washington are unintended.

Impact goals

In 4 years of training, starting in 2019, we strive to make a significant impact on the state of contraceptive care in Washington for all patients, regardless of where they get their healthcare.

40 participating agencies

Agency partnerships planned across all of Washington during the multi-year project.

300 health center sites trained

Partner sites to receive Upstream’s training and technical assistance that engages the whole health center.

540,000 patients reached

Women of reproductive age served by fully trained health centers when project is complete.

Are you a Washington provider?

Upstream provides comprehensive contraception training, technical assistance, and on-site coaching at no charge to healthcare providers and systems.

Partnering with Upstream

In Washington, at least 35% of all pregnancies are unintended

According to Guttmacher Institute, publicly supported family planning centers served 112,800 female contraceptive clients in 2014. They met 26% of Washington women’s need for contraceptive services and supplies.

Washington partners

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
Karl Eastlund, MBA, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho
Cynthia Harris, Washington State Department of Health
Kirsten Harris-Talley, Surge Northwest, Founding Board Member (emeritus)
Bob Marsalli, Washington Association for Community Health
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
Anne Udall, PhD, Planned Parenthood, Columbia Willamette
John Wiesman, DrPH, MPH, Washington State Department of Health

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

Want to work in Washington?

Check out opportunities on our careers page.

Careers