Planned Parethood of Mid-Missouri & Kansas Merging with OKC Operation

(AP) – Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri announced plans Wednesday to merge with the abortion provider’s central Oklahoma affiliate in July and open a new Oklahoma City clinic, even as political leaders in the three states seek to cut off Medicaid funding.
Laura McQuade, the Kansas and Mid-Missouri affiliate’s president and CEO, said the merger is designed to create a regional health care “powerhouse” and isn’t a response to attempts by legislators and governors in the three states to prevent public funds from going to Planned Parenthood.
She also said the merger is part of a larger, 20-year trend of smaller, local Planned Parenthood affiliates consolidating into regional organizations. The central Oklahoma affiliate’s CEO retired last year, and McQuade has been the organization’s interim CEO since January under a contract in which the Kansas and Mid-Missouri group has managed operations in central Oklahoma.
“Really, this was about a sustainable business model,” she told reporters during a telephone conference call.