Comprehensive Reproductive and Women’s Health Services at Choices Medical Center

The Mission and Vision of CHOICES

The Mission of Choices Women’s Medical Center is to offer all our patients the highest quality medical care in a warm, sensitive, compassionate and confidential setting and to give them the knowledge they need to make the best choices for themselves, with the most accurate fact-based information. Our mission and commitment to our patients spread across all borders, geographical as well as age, gender identity, nationality, and culture. What remains constant is the same commitment to our patients as our initial mission-demanded for our abortion care: to serve patients’ needs with compassion and understanding, with the highest level of skill and training, and to empower them with knowledge.

Regarding our name, “Choices” stands for Creative Health Organization for Information, Counseling, and Educational Services. Health education is an integral and important part of our mission, and CHOICES offers no-cost classes and workshops to public and private schools, community, and health organizations.

History and the Feminist Perspective

Merle Hoffman founded Choices Women’s Medical Center in 1971 shortly after New York State made abortion legal two years before the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973. CHOICES is a “midwife” to the entire concept and field of “Women’s Health”. This journey began starting from the Feminist Perspective of women having a degree of power in their medical treatment at a time when patients (who were mainly women) had no information or power in a medical setting with doctors who were mainly men. Some of these innovations which began with legal abortion at CHOICES in 1971 included; counseling patients about the nature of their procedure and their decision, informed consent, answering any questions that a patient may have, insuring that a team approach to patient care and the groundbreaking philosophy of PATIENT POWER.

Clinical Services and Specialized Care

Women’s reproductive health is at the core of our services, including a full range of gynecological testing, treatment, and Well-Woman Care; birth control; abortion services to 24 weeks; and a complete prenatal program. CHOICES has always expanded to meet the needs of our patients, including a full range of reproductive health care that includes:

• Abortion services to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
• Birth control and Tele-Medicine.
• Gynecology and prenatal care.
• Counseling services.
• HIV/STD Testing and Treatment and basic preventive care.

Since its founding in 1971 by Merle Hoffman, CHOICES has developed many other services to meet the needs of the expanding communities it serves, including LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming, teenagers, and seniors. For instance, she also developed one of the first Trans Care programs in the country in 2016. Furthermore, a Teen Program includes free pregnancy testing, specialized counseling, and other services.

Licensing, Accreditation, and Accessibility

Choices Women’s Medical Center is licensed by the State of New York as an outpatient medical facility and meets its regulations for all healthcare providers. CHOICES is accredited by the AAAHC (American Association of Ambulatory Health Care), and repeatedly meets their highest level of standards. Additionally, Choices Medical is proud to announce our Women-Business Enterprise (WBE) Certification! This prestigious designation is awarded to businesses that are at least 51% owned and operated by women within their state, highlighting the dedication and leadership of women in business.

To ensure accessibility for all, we provide the following patient support services:

Beyond local care, Merle Hoffman founded the CHOICES Global Institute of Healing and Education, a charitable organization that raises public awareness about women’s health issues and provides support to underserved women and their families. She has also taken CHOICES’ mission and philosophy to Russia and South Africa.