Teen Clinic     Daily NewsArticle Published: Sunday, January 18, 2004 - 7:12:35 AM PST

680 Fairplex Drive in Pomona, call (909) 620-8088

Once a week, Pomona health center provides counseling, health-related services related to pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases

By Debbie Council
Staff writer

On a recent Friday afternoon, a raven-haired 17-year-old Pomona teenager with dark eyes sat down with a 19-year-old female counselor at Teen Clinic. She was there confidentially. Her mother doesn't know that she has been coming to the East Valley Community Health Center clinic in Pomona for teens ages 12 to 19 for pap smears and other health-related services since she was 15.

In California, teenagers 12 years and older are considered consenting adults for family-planning purposes. The girl, who wanted to remain unnamed, has had a steady boyfriend for two years and is sexually active. She learned about the teen clinic and its services when she came with a friend who had an appointment.

After 18-year-old medical assistant Laura Hernandez takes the teen's blood pressure and weight, the girl walks into the office of Nicolle Garrovillas, who is an educator for girls at sexual risk. Behind a closed door, Garrovillas asks the youth if she has been tested for HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. She answers "yes", that she was tested at the clinic in October and the result was negative. Garrovillas marks the girl's confidential survey that she wants another HIV test in three months. The counselor asks if she uses a condom during sex.

"Not every single time," she answers. Garrovillas marks "no" on the survey for condom use because it has to be every time.

"I give you guys a lot of credit for that because not everyone uses a condom," Garrovillas tells her, and explains that using a condom prevents getting a sexually transmitted disease like chlamydia or HPV, the human papillomavirus, and is a deterrent to pregnancy. Eight of 10 teen pregnancies are unplanned.

Garrovillas has the teen fill out a personal contract to always use a condom, but the teen marks "maybe." Garrovillas thanks her for being honest and demonstrates the proper way to use a condom, making sure first to check the expiration date.

They discuss various methods of birth control. The girl asks if a spermicide -- which can be in the form of a cream, gel, foam, film or suppository containing a chemical that kills sperm before it enters the uterus -- works. Garrovillas says it's 94 percent effective if used properly but only 74 percent effective if not used correctly. The girl wants a sample of the film spermicide, which the counselor has.

Garrovillas learns that the girl used speed three years ago but she's never been to a drug or alcohol treatment center.

"Everybody is friendly. You can talk to them about anything," the teenager says before leaving with her samples.

Eloisa Regalado, 24, of Pomona, the Teen Clinic supervisor and family planning counselor, began volunteering at the clinic when she was 16. She's interested in the health field, especially working with pregnant women and delivering babies.

"I've always been interested in female health. When I came into the clinic, I just knew that this was it," said Regalado, whose bright blue office resembles a teen's room decorated with metal gym lockers and a tie-dyed wall hanging of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the 1960s Los Angeles rock band The Doors.

Open only from 1:30 to 7 p.m. on Fridays, the Teen Clinic is within walking distance of Ganesha High School and Marshall Middle School. Another Teen Clinic in West Covina is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. The Pomona Teen Clinic sees between 40 and 60 patients a month.

A special project of East Valley Community Health Center, Inc., it is staffed by teens and young adults trained as peer counselors. A nonprofit corporation with a nine-member board of directors, East Valley is committed to meeting the health care needs of the low-income and underserved population. Some 85 percent of patients receiving services do not have any type of health insurance. The health center evolved from a free clinic that focused on family planning and counseling services in the 1970s.

Funded in part by Family Planning Access Care Treatment or PACT, which is turn is part of the California Department of Health Services, the Teen Clinic provides contraceptive services, support groups, HIV testing, HIV-preventive education, pregnancy testing, exams for sexually transmitted disease and male exams.

Regalado said teens feel comfortable at the clinic because it is quiet and confidential. She said it's reassuring to the young patients that they don't have to deal with seeing a neighbor there or a family member.

"We're here for our youth. We're here to educate them. We're not here to promote sex," Regalado said. "We tell them abstinence is the best way to go. It's more of a health promotion, health awareness for youth. They're not aware there are risks out there. We're here for education and maybe (to) change some behaviors."

Nurse practitioner Susan Christian, 52, has performed gynecological examinations and medical procedures at Teen Clinic for four years. She said many of the teens test positive for chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted disease, and the human papillomavirus or HPV, which is also known as genital warts. Christian said the sexually transmitted diseases generally occur when a girl has multiple sex partners and doesn't use a condom.

She said there are 100 types of HPV with several strains linked to dysplasias and cancers.

"That's why we worry about it," said Christian, who performs about 20 colposcopy procedures of the cervix on teens each month and takes biopsies of abnormal tissue. "We've got to make sure it doesn't become cancer. When you first tell them, it's like a blank (look on their faces)."

Chlamydia is diagnosed in an estimated 3 million Americans each year and is the main cause of infertility. Referred to as a silent disease with no symptoms in 75 percent of the cases, it is treated and cured with an antibiotic. Three of four reported cases are diagnosed in people 25 years of age and younger.

According to the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, an estimated 5.5 million people are infected with HPV in the United States each year. A recent study of female college students found that an average of 14 percent became infected with genital HPV each year. Of the 30 different strains of HPV, some cause genital warts, which are very common and can be treated and cured. But the subclinical HPV infection is much more common and there is no treatment; it can lead to cervical, penile and anal cancer.

Christian said education is important for teens because they just don't understand how they get these diseases.

"We reinforce it over and over and over -- condom, condom, condom," Christian said. "Sometimes they come back again and again until they get it. Sometimes we lose them. But for the most part, whoever comes to see us we get to."

Regalado said the purpose of the clinic is to talk about the reality of sex and the responsibilities and the consequences that might make teens hold off and think twice.

A pretty girl with wide blue eyes and long, curly brown hair who walked out of the clinic that day had just received the news she hoped she wouldn't hear. A counselor had just informed her that her pregnancy test had come back positive. A single girl, she decided to abort her pregnancy.

For information on Teen Clinic at 680 Fairplex Drive in Pomona, call (909) 620-8088. Debbie Council can be reached at (909) 483-8549 ord_council@dailybulletin.com .