By Sergio Oehninger, MD, PhD

Director, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility

It has almost been a year since the opening of the new Jones Institute IVF lab and operating room in our own facility at EVMS. The Jones Institute new outpatient surgical center is designed to provide patients with a private and comfortable setting for all of their steps in infertility treatment – from the initial consultation to the post-operative care. The second floor of the Jones Institute, which formerly housed administrative offices, has been completely renovated so that many of the comprehensive medical services that were previously performed at neighboring Sentara General Hospital are now handled in the Institute.

The pre-op/recovery/operating room (OR) areas are working efficiently under skilled, experienced and friendly nursing staff. It is rewarding to hear patients’ comments about their high degree of satisfaction with the facility as well as the overall operation. They report low stress levels, need for less pain medication as well as fast recovery in a more friendly and familiar atmosphere.  The IVF lab and OR facility are in compliance with and have been accredited by AAAAF.

The combined efforts of highly professional physicians, nurses, world-class embryologists and dedicated anesthesiologists have allowed us to provide enhanced individualized patient care and offer couples a unique environment to fulfill their dreams of starting a family.

The Jones Institute remains one of a kind.  There are no other facilities in the United States where the clinical treatment of infertile couples is the outreach of a body of well-trained scientists in the same field of Reproductive Medicine.   What makes the Institute unique and therefore so successful is its ability to conduct translational basic science research in all areas of Reproductive Medicine and then apply those groundbreaking discoveries to the benefit of its patients– all within one facility.  The scientists that work in the Jones Institute pursue discoveries in Andrology (male infertility), preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and potential breakthroughs related to the selection of the most viable egg and embryos, as well as the preparation of the endometrium for implantation. It is this combination of scientific research with clinical application that keeps the Jones Institute in the forefront of modern reproductive techniques.