Published: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

Updated: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

A ‘REFRESHING’ DIRECTOR

SARASOTA

Sujatha “Suzie” Prabhakaran just liked Planned Parenthood from the start.

The 33-year-old medical doctor, who also holds a master’s degree in public health, was hired last summer as the new director for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. She oversees clinics in Sarasota, Bradenton, St. Petersburg, Fort Myers, Winter Haven, Tampa and Lakeland.

“I did a rotation as a medical student, and I loved the organization,” she said in a telephone interview recently. “I liked the approach to medical care; it’s not just about medical care itself, but it’s also about educating patients and working to create policies that promote health.”

Prabhakaran (pronounced pra-BOK-kar-run) helps with patient care, sees gynecology and family planning patients, oversees medical services and decides what types of care to offer.

The clinics employ about 100 and treat approximately 64,000 clients per year, she said.

“The majority of services we provide are preventive services and contraception,” she noted. “I think less than 10 percent of what we provide are abortion services.”

Typical are such offerings as Pap smears, menopause help, services for males, and testing for sexually-transmitted diseases.

“The work Planned Parenthood is doing in these times, providing affordable health care for women, including Pap smears and gynecological care, is an asset to our community,” said Ashley Brown, executive director for the Women’s Resource Center of Manatee, a nonprofit organization that helps women with counseling, support groups, computer classes and other services.

“They’re making health care for women an affordable option,” she added. “Women are staying on top of their health as opposed to letting it slide.”

Prabhakaran is well-liked, according to Ann Colbath, who is a Planned Parenthood advanced registered nurse practitioner with 24 years’ experience.

“She is extremely approachable and accessible,” said Colbath. “She interacts beautifully with all types of staff; there’s no pecking order. She’s just wonderful. There’s a sense of calmness, I think.”

Although Colbath has worked for many directors over the years, some of whom she considered nice and others whom she disliked, she rated Prabhakaran “tops.”

“She is really, really refreshing,” Colbath said.

Prabhakaran supports national health care reform, and is excited about a public option plan under consideration.

“I think we waste so much money and resources in our system finding out does our insurance cover this or that,” she said.

“The other thing in reform is: We’ve been one of the strongest, if not the only voice, for women’s reproductive health to be covered. It’s not only abortion — we’re not trying to expand coverage for abortion — we’re trying to keep coverage for women’s preventive coverage, Pap smears, mammograms, birth control pills, contraception, mandating they be covered,” she added,

Tait Sye, a Washington, D.C. spokesman for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the current health care bill has many provisions benefitting women, such as coverage of mammograms and Pap smears.

Passage would also end the practice of gender discrimination in insurance pricing and denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions, he added.

As for abortion, he said, “The bill also includes a reasonable compromise on abortion that assures access to abortion is neither mandated nor prohibited; and that women would not lose health care benefits that they have had for decades, while also addressing concerns that no federal funds would be used for abortion.”

Prabhakaran hails from Ohio, but moved to Florida because she likes the heat here, she said.

She is a graduate of the University of Toledo, the Medical College of Ohio, and did her residency at Wake Forest University. She finished her training with a research fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“This organization is already doing great things; it has very good leadership; the clinical services here are as high quality as you’ll get anywhere, and there’s fiscal responsibility,” she said. “It’s a great organization. It’s nice to be planted in a place already doing nice stuff.”

Sara Kennedy, Herald reporter, can be reached at (941) 745-7031 or at skennedy@bradenton.com