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 coaching at no charge to healthcare providers and systems.

Partnering with Upstream

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

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:

Trudi Inslee, Honorary Chair, First Lady, State of Washington

Health Policy
Cynthia Harris, Washington State Department of Health
Jan Ward Olmstead, MPA, JWO Consulting LLC
Dr. Umair Shah, MD, MPH, Washington State Department of Health
Jennifer Allen, Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii
Cassie Sauer, Washington State Hospital Association

Reproductive Health
Sarah Prager, MD, MAS, University of Washington

Community Health Centers
Federico Cruz-Uribe, MD, MPH, Sea Mar Community Health Centers
Bob Marsalli, Washington Association for Community Health

Northwestern Washington
Linda McCarthy, Planned Parenthood of Mt. Baker

Western Washington
Christine Charbonneau, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands

Southwestern Washington
Anne Udall, PhD, Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette

Eastern Washington
Alison Poulsen, Better Health Together
Karl Eastlund, MBA, Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho

Payer Community
Sue Birch, Washington State Health Care Authority

Economic Opportunity and Families
Valerie Tarico, PhD, Psychologist and Author

Reproductive Justice
Kirsten Harris-Talley, Surge Northwest (Founding Board Member, emeritus)

Ensuring contraceptive access during the COVID-19 pandemic

Thank you to all of the healthcare heroes on the frontline working diligently to prevent, help and heal our communities during this unprecedented time. We are grateful for your service. Here are several strategies to ensure that the contraceptive needs of your patients can still be addressed while you work to manage the COVID-19 outbreak.

Resources

How Washington is supporting contraceptive access

New telehealth resources and changes to reimbursement policies designed to help health centers offer care.

Washington Resources

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