A new health center offering counseling and medical services for women began operations last night near Inman Square.

The Women's Community Health Center, located at 137 Hampshire Street, will provide general and gynecological examinations, birth control information, IUD and diaphragm fittings, pap smears and tests for pregnaacy and venereal disease, Elizabeth A. Sommers, spokesman for the center, said yesterday.

The center, staffed by two doctors and 20 woman counselors, asks patients to pay posted suggested fees, Sommers said, but patients only have to pay what they feel they can afford.

Sommers said that the center cannot carry out abortions because of a lack of funding and facilities. She said the center does not receive any local, state or federal aid and relies solely on contributions for support.

A group of women originated the idea for the center last November at a Boston health care conference. Their goal, as explained in a statement issued during the spring, was to have an "alternative to the present existing health care system."

"Our base and philosophy are self-help and a grassroot challenge to the patriarcal system," the statement says. "Self-help is a tool which works on many levels; demystifying the medical establishment, demystifying our bodies, providing the means and methods whereby we are able to take responsibility over our health care, our lives and our environment."