CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC AND FERTILITY CARE AT LFC

Dear LFC family,

Life as we know it has been upended in the last two months by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of us have been sick or lost friends, family members, while others have lost jobs. For our unique patient population, treatment cycles were cancelled or delayed, putting a pause on dreams of growing families. With over 2.5 million cases confirmed worldwide, it has become apparent that COVID-19 will continue to affect our society for a while, and that we will have to adapt to be able to provide the excellent and personalized and time-sensitive fertility care that is synonymous with LFC.

As we resume care, our goal is to limit risk to all our patients and staff, given the known threat of disease transmission by both symptomatic and asymptomatic persons. As summarized by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) task force, we acknowledge that there are still a lot of unknowns: impact of pregnancy on vulnerability to COVID-19, impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy including maternal and fetal risks, and extent of immunity in previously infected persons.

What we do know, is that we will do everything we can to limit transmission risk. As you make the decision to resume fertility care, we want to share what we are doing to keep us all safe, as we know that you trust and depend on us to provide such a personal and essential service.

LFC RISK MITIGATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Healthcare Staff

1. Training on best practices: hand washing, COVID-19 symptoms, frequent cleaning and disinfecting of all surfaces touched by patient and staff
2. Mask to be worn at all times in the office
3. Body temperature checks on arrival and departure from work
4. Required disclosure of known or suspected infection/symptoms in self or close contact
5. Lenient sick call policies with back-up scheduling to plan for potential staff absences
6. Continued remote working from home for certain staff members where feasible

Patients

1. All patients must wear a face mask covering nose and mouth
2. Phone screening for concerning symptoms at appointment confirmation
3. Secondary screening and body temperature checks at appointment check-in, with LFC reserving the right to determine who can safely be seen
4. No accompanied guests including children (partners permitted only for certain appointments).
5. Maintain social/physical distancing while in office
6. Hand-sanitization stations throughout office
7. Flexibility in appointment scheduling based to limit number of patients in office at one time
8. Continued telehealth appointments to the greatest extent possible to minimize traffic
9. Limited number of cycle starts each week: prioritized based on age, diagnosis and type of treatment
10. If proceeding with cycle, patients will be required to acknowledge unknowns regarding COVID-19 and pregnancy, exposure risk in clinic, option to postpone treatment, risk of cancellation and financial implications

We will continue to monitor local trends and transmission rates, and revise our policies as new data emerges, including possible addition of antibody testing for immunity. Please contact your nurse to get more information on our tentative timeline to resume various diagnostic testing and treatment cycles.

Thank you for placing your trust in us as we navigate this new normal. We look forward to resuming our mission of growing dreams together and supporting you throughout this journey.

Your LFC Doctors