Planned Parenthood Mar Monte turns to Botox and IVs as a way to preserve its core mission.

It’s been a tumultuous year for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, the largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country, since the passage of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” last July. Medicaid reimbursements were halted, forcing PPMM to lay off over 60 employees and close five clinics in California. More federal cuts are coming Jan. 1.

With 75 to 80 percent of PPMM’s patients using Medicaid – known as Medi-Cal in California – its leaders had to get creative finding new sources of revenue. They turned to “aesthetics,” which include injectables like Botox and other beauty treatments, as well as IV hydration and perimenopausal care. Aesthetic services are cash only, and are offered at about 25 percent less than at medical spas, says Dr. Laura Dalton, PPMM’s chief medical operating officer.

“It’s a relatively easy lift for us,” she says of the addition. It requires no additional supplies, and many staff members were already trained in some procedures. She believes clients who relied on Planned Parenthood in their younger years will return for the new services.

As of now, only the Sacramento clinic is offering aesthetics, although the perimenopausal program, Poppy, is available through telehealth. That program offers hormone replacement therapy and even microdosed GLP-1s, which is emerging as a perimenopausal treatment, Dalton says. Eventually all 30 clinics, including Seaside and Salinas, will offer aesthetic services.

So far the reaction has been positive, she says, with clients saying they’re happy their money will help subsidize reproductive health care for others.

The Medi-Cal cuts have led to another development: Over 400 clinicians, nurses and specialists, including about 30 in Monterey County, are voting on whether to join a union, SEIU Local 521. The vote began May 11 and continues through May 19. The union cited the cuts as one reason why workers want a voice in decisions about staffing, resources and priorities.