FRANKFORT As an academic internist in Kentucky who provides preventive health care to all, regardless of income or insurance status, I was unaware of the resources available from the Kentucky Department for Public Health that help patients receive services at low or no cost to them. Two programs in particular, the Kentucky Family Planning program and the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening program, are life-saving programs that have been invaluable in helping to get care for my patients. Now, since joining the Kentucky Department for Public Health as the Director of the Division of Women’s Health, I better understand the programs and resources available to those across Kentucky and have made it my mission to help familiarize fellow physicians in Kentucky about these programs and how they can potentially help their patients.
The Division of Women’s Health at the Kentucky Department for Public Health was created in 1998 as a resource for the physical and mental health of women in Kentucky. Two of the primary programs in the division, Kentucky Family Planning and the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program, are federally funded programs administered at the state level that work to ensure access to female-specific cancer screening and family planning services.
Through these programs, the Kentucky Department for Public Health has created statewide partnerships to promote women’s health education, navigate access to care and ensure quality service to those in need.
Kentucky Family Planning
Kentucky Department for Public Health has participated in the national Title X Family Planning Program since its inception in 1970,
“I have made it my mission to help familiarize fellow physicians in Kentucky about these programs and how they can potentially help their patients.” — Stephanie Rose, MD, MPH, Director of Women’s Health, KY DPH
when Congress enacted Title X of the Public Health Service Act. Core services of the Kentucky Family Planning program include contraceptive services, pregnancy testing and counseling, optimal family spacing assistance, basic infertility services, sexually transmitted infection services, preconception health and preventive health services (please note that abortion has never been a part of Title X funding). Family planning services are confidential and are provided to both females and males, regardless of age. Services are provided through both telehealth and traditional visits and are income-based. Clients at or below 100% of the federal poverty level are not charged for any Kentucky Family Planning service.
Last year, the Kentucky Family Planning program funded over 50,000 encounters for women and men at 130 sites across Kentucky. To find a location providing Kentucky Family Planning services, scan our QR code or visit the Kentucky Department for Public Health Division of Women’s Health website below. Once on the website, click “Kentucky Family Planning” and use the “OASH Find a Family Planning Clinic” locator.
Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program
The other important Kentucky program for physicians to know about is the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program (KWCSP). The KWCSP is a federally funded program administered at the state level that provides free breast and cervical cancer screenings and diagnostic services to eligible women in Kentucky. Services like mammo
grams and Pap tests are offered through local health departments and participating clin- ics around the commonwealth. Women 21 years old or older with a household income at or less than 250% of the federal poverty level and who are uninsured are eligible for free services through the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program. Women who are diagnosed with cancer through the program have access to treatment for their cancer from Medicaid through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program.
In December 2024, the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program and its partners produced a holiday gift that one Kentuckian will never forget. The KWCSP received a call from a low-income, uninsured woman in need of assistance with breast diagnostic services. She had received her screening at a non-KWCSP participating provider and had to cancel her diagnostic appointment due to the cost. The Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program contacted a partner, Kentucky CancerLink, who navigated the woman to CHI Saint Joseph Health’s Yes, Mamm! Program, another KWCSP partner, to schedule her diagnostics. Diagnostics were completed at no cost to the patient in days. Tests resulted in a cancer diag- nosis, and since she had received at least one service through the Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program, she was able to obtain treatment coverage through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program. A few months later, a thank you note was received stating, “Best Christmas present I would ever get!!! Thank you so much!!”
The Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program provider network currently consists of 24 local health departments, 9 hospitals and 41 clinics run by 10 federally qualified health centers, and it’s growing. The program has exceeded screening goals within recent years and anticipates another increase this year of up to 5,000 women served in Kentucky.
To find a location providing Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program services, scan our QR code or visit the Kentucky Department for Public Health Division of Women’s Health website below. From the web- site, click “Women’s Cancer Screening” and then visit the link titled “Kentucky Women’s Cancer Screening Program Locations.”