Planned Parenthood Golden Gate was formed in 1996, when three Planned Parenthood affiliates merged. Ms. Harrison led the organization from its inception. The affiliate won performance awards from the national organization in 2003 and 2005. Gloria Steinem appeared at a fund-raiser in 2007, as did Donna Brazile, the Democratic political strategist, in 2008.

One report distributed by the organization included an animated cartoon starring Ms. Harrison, who transforms into a “Superhero for Choice” armed with a condom-shooting popgun that scatters anti-abortion protesters.

Ms. Harrison won the admiration of wealthy donors and board members, who praised her as an innovative leader whose vision for social justice extended far beyond the Bay Area, even leading her to forge a partnership in Ethiopia to try to improve reproductive health care there.

Yet many staff members saw Ms. Harrison and her team as out of touch with their daily realities, creating a dysfunctional corporate culture. Some former employees still hold occasional get-togethers dubbed the “P.P.G.G. P.T.S.D. Support Group.”

Financially, Planned Parenthood Golden Gate did not measure up to its public profile. According to a 2007 internal report by the national organization, its finances were the worst among the top 10 largest affiliates in the country. Planned Parenthood Golden Gate failed to meet four out of nine indicators of financial health that year, the report said. Some of those benchmarks  like maintaining 60 days of cash on hand  had not been met for years.

Over the next two fiscal years, the affiliate’s revenues from contributions and grants fell 45 percent, to $2.3 million from $4.2 million. The growing internal crisis affected services, according to medical personnel.

“There were days when patients would come to see if they were pregnant and we couldn’t tell them because we had no pregnancy tests in stock,” said a doctor who no longer works for the affiliate.