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“As the new (private) clinic has gotten up and running and we recognized they are quite capable of taking on this role in Edmonton … it became less and less critical for us to continue with a clinic in an AHS facility.”

Johnston said the clinic will instead focus on reproductive services that are covered by the province. This includes consultations, ultrasounds, hormone tests and other diagnostics that help to determine the cause of infertility.

The procedures that attempt to solve the problem, such as in-vitro fertilization, are paid for by patients out of pocket. For IVF, these costs can sometimes run as high as $15,000 to $20,000 per attempt, including fertility drugs.

Johnston said the costs charged to patients by the AHS clinic have been comparable to the rates offered at private facilities.

He said the priority now is to work with the clinic’s existing patients to either complete their treatments by February or help them transition to Edmonton’s private clinic. Patients also have the option of going to private facilities in Calgary and B.C.

He said it is unlikely the clinic will be able to provide treatments to wait-listed clients still weeks or months away from their appointments. The current average wait time for IVF at the clinic is seven months, which is down from the 14-month to 18-month waits some patients have reported in the past.

The privately run operations are known to have considerably shorter wait times.