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Program marks 40 years and helping thousands
Published 04:45 p.m., November 20, 2009
A Fergus Falls family planning program began as a private physician system in 1969 to provide services to low-income residents.
The Otter Tail-Wadena Community Action Council Family Planning Program is now in its 40th year — and has 11 offices and has met with tens of thousands of men and women, said Director Cyndy Rastedt. When Rastedt began as the director 20 years ago, the program had four offices.
The program is holding an open house to celebrate the 40-year milestone from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23 in the lobby of the River Inn on South Mill Street.
The program has more than 25 area physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certified nurse midwives who provide services to both men and women. The services include exams, testing for and treating sexually transmitted diseases and offering contraception, according to Director Cyndy Rastedt. She added that they have nothing to do with abortion.
They are members of the Minnesota Family Planning Program. Their mission is to help people plan their family and have healthy babies, Rastedt said. It’s about putting people in control of themselves, she said.
“The greatest strength a woman has is power over her reproductive system,” Rastedt said. She noted that most people contracept in life, whether they use the rhythm method, hormonal method or other types of methods.
Rastedt, a registered nurse, noted that staff go home exhausted but with a sense of satisfaction for helping people.
Rastedt noted that they provide services to any person of any age with or without an insurance provider. For those who meet income criteria, services are free or be on a sliding fee schedule. A person in a household of one who earns less than $20,808 per year can receive services for free, according to Rastedt.
Staff member Marsha Vandermay, a certified nurse’s assistant, noted that some women go without health care services if they need more than an exam because they can’t afford it. But the program helps women with costs if they have test results that are abnormal and they are referred to specialized services, she said.
When staff see someone who may need help with food and shelter, they refer them to other programs that can assist the resident, Vandermay said.
The program has about 4,000 visits a year and provides education sessions to between 3,000 and 5,000 community members.
The program has three offices, in Fergus Falls, Perham and Detroit Lakes. It also has nurses who travel to communities that include Pelican Rapids, Menahga, Wadena, Long Prairie, Walker, Pine River, Morris and Wheaton.
They recently received a Healthier Minnesota Community Clinic Fund grant to expand their services into Mahnomen County, which has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Minnesota. They’ll also use the funding to expand their Detroit Lakes office, which has the second highest visitor numbers after the Fergus Falls office.
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