'We need this': Local nurse aspires to open fertility clinic in the Sault

An emergency department nurse at the Sault Area Hospital has launched a survey to determine if there’s enough demand for a fertility clinic in Sault Ste. Marie.

Alysha Briglio discovered her passion for women’s health, particularly with fertility and reproduction, during her postgraduate program in Guelph a few years back.

She earned a master's degree in reproductive biotechnology and had the opportunity to get an inside look at how fertility clinics in southern Ontario operate.

Daughter of Julie Briglio, a well-known nurse practitioner in the Sault, the young nurse has returned to her hometown and believes she can acquire the resources to begin a local start-up and assist couples who are struggling to get pregnant.

“I’ve always had a passion for this,” she said. “There’s nothing here with fertility, and my mom suggested the Sault could eventually use something like this. I’d want to make sure it’s successful and needed of course, and I think a survey will help with that.”

Currently, the nearest and only fertility clinic in northern Ontario is run by NEO Women's Health Network, a service in Sudbury that has been operating since 2018.

Run by Dr. Karen Splinter and Dr. Jennifer Jocko, Sudbury's clinic sees patients from as far west as Wawa and as far south as Barrie.

With a wait list for referred patients at just under two months, they estimate 20 per cent of their clientele is from the Sault. 

"The dream of why we opened this clinic in the first place was to give people care close to home," said Dr. Jocko. "It would effect our day-to-day flow if there was a clinic in the Sault since those patients wouldn't necessarily have to come anymore, but we certainly wouldn't fault it if the Sault could support its own clinic."

For Briglio, she's fascinated with the prospect of offering similar care in the Sault so local couples can avoid travelling altogether.

“I was talking to one of the doctors in the Sault, and because there’s a shortage, a lot of couples have to go straight to the source,” Briglio said. “Couples have to travel to Sudbury, and a lot of times all the way to Toronto. They have to stay down there for a couple weeks for all the testing, pay for a hotel, then travel all the way back home.”

“If it doesn’t work, they have to travel all the way back to Toronto again,” she added. “It’s a constant transportation, and it’s really frustrating for them.”

The doctor Briglio has been in communication with is an obstetrician gynecologist (OB/GYN) who provides care at both the hospital and Group Health Centre.

If she senses the demand for a local fertility clinic exists, Briglio hopes to pursue fertility counselling with her mom, potentially open a small clinic, and work with that physician to begin overseeing hormonal placements.

If successful, her one to two-year operational timeline would see the clinic provide counselling, hormonal monitoring, bloodwork, ultrasounds, sperm analysis and potentially embryo freezing — all of which is eligible for coverage.

Intrauterine insemination (IUI), which places sperm directly into the uterus, is also completely covered and “could be done all the time in the Sault,” according to Briglio.

“I think Sudbury sometimes has to ship patients to Toronto for further testing, and I believe they send the couple’s specimens to Toronto to actually make the baby in the Petri dish which is a great start,” she said. “That’s exactly what I’d want to do in the Sault.”

“There’s not enough people here to actually have the staff to make a baby, but even just to have something like what Sudbury does and then send them off would be great,” she added. “Eventually, we could look at growing it into a massive business here.”

While the number of staff and their qualifications required to run an operational fertility clinic in the Sault is significant, it’s not unrealistic, according to Briglio.

She says a physician, an andrologist and a nurse are the three critical roles needed to open a facility locally.

“The doctor would be needed on-site so they can prescribe the hormone medications to do the embryo transfers and retrieve the follicles,” Briglio explained. “The doctor I’ve been in contact with who specialized in fertility is willing to come and do this with me.”

“An andrologist, who analyzes the sperm under a microscope, would also be required,” she continued. “With my background, I could do it myself, but I’d like to see if we could bring one in.”

“An ultrasound technician and a pharmacist would be nice, but we can always refer couples to them in town if needed. My sister is a nurse and says she’d be willing to help us out too.”

If all goes well, Briglio noted a long-term goal of theirs would also be to hire an embryologist, a medical professional who analyzes eggs.

The emergency department nurse is also hoping that the prospect of a new clinic will eliminate the stigma she believes exists with infertility.

“There are a lot of couples who are scared to talk about it,” Briglio said. “It’s almost like they’re embarrassed. I want to get rid of that stigma. It’s okay that it’s a struggle – it’s a normal thing. That’s why the counselling option is nice too, because people just don’t talk about it.”

Readers who are struggling with infertility or want to provide their input on the idea of a new fertility clinic in Sault Ste. Marie can fill out Briglio’s short survey anonymously by clicking here.

“I would love to open one up so bad,” she said. “We need this resource.”