London Health Sciences Centre fertility clinic closing after 50 years

A significant change in fertility services was announced Thursday by the London Health Sciences Centre.

LHSC says it will close its fertility clinic at the end of March after 50 years of operation.

In its place, a new Omega Fertility Center run by LHSC physicians and members of the obstetrics and gynecology department will be opening sometime this spring or summer on Commissioners Road West.

“I would personally like to thank the incredible team at The Fertility Clinic for their dedication, compassion and commitment to supporting individuals and families in our care,” Nash Syed, president of LHSC’s Children’s Hospital, said in a prepared statement.

“This legacy of care our patients received will be remembered for generations to come.”

LHSC’s fertility clinic was one of the first in Canada when it opened in 1972. Throughout its 50 years, LHSC says it has resulted in more than 4,500 births through reproductive technologies.

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The health authority says the clinic has helped couples, single parents and members of the LGBTQ2 community plan, procreate and start a family through innovative health-care technologies.

“My understanding is it was one of the first fertility programs in Ontario,” Syed said in an interview with Global News. “It was able to pioneer service delivery models and bring services closer to home for people.”

Services the clinic provided included in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, intrauterine insemination, donor insemination, fertility preservation and onco-fertility preservation, which preserves sperm or eggs before a patient undergoes cancer treatment.

And just as it was one of the first in Ontario, the LHSC fertility clinic is also one of the last of its kind. Syed said LHSC is one of only two hospitals with fertility clinics still operating in Ontario.

Discussions began around two years ago to transition the hospital fertility clinic to a community-based centre. Syed says community-based clinics offer service that is more readily available and accessible.

An example Syed raised was that when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its height, the hospital had to shut down several fertility treatment services. Meanwhile, community-based operators could provide regular service.

“By moving services closer that don’t necessarily need to be in a hospital, we can safeguard those services and ensure that they can continue on when difficult things happen,” Syed said.

Syed says the transition between the hospital and community clinic should be reasonably seamless for several reasons. Firstly, he says there is already a good working relationship between LHSC and Omega as the owners and operators of Omega are the physicians that provide service for the LHSC fertility clinic.

Secondly, he says patients should not see any change in costs as the funding model the hospital and Omega receive from the province are the same.

“(Omega staff) are highly trained, highly experienced clinical leaders,” Syed said.

Patients currently receiving service with the LHSC fertility clinic will be receiving a letter within the next 10 days with more information about the changes.