University Closing In Vitro Fertilization Clinic At Little Rock
Last updated Saturday, July 5, 2008 5:41 PM CDT in News
By The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK - The in vitro fertilization clinic at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where couples could have eggs fertilized before they were implanted in the woman's womb, has closed down because a private facility drew off too many potential clients, officials say.
The decision to close the publicly funded program came after a year of discussions with doctors at the private Arkansas Fertility & Gynecology Associates in west Little Rock, according to Dr. Curtis Lowery, director of maternal-fetal medicine at the university.
Dr. Dean Moutos and Dr. Michael Miller left the university to start Arkansas Fertility & Gynecology in May 2004, with Dr. Francisco Batres. They took many of their patients with them.
"Little Rock's just not big enough for two (in vitro fertilization) programs to be financially sound," said Moutos, medical director of the private clinic. "We decided it really wasn't in either of our best interest to have two competing programs."
"In vitro" is a Latin phrase meaning "in glass," a reference to glass vessels where male sperm are combined with female eggs.
Closure of the in vitro clinic at the university leaves the private facility in west Little Rock as the only one in the state offering in vitro fertilization.
"There are plenty of examples where this has happened in other parts of the country," Moutos said. "What somebody has to realize is that it's expensive to maintain an IVF program. It's labor intensive, it's high capital investment. Your overhead is very high. If you're not doing enough patients or enough cycles a year, financially you're just not going to make it."
Lowery said the university center had an annual operating budget of about $1.3 million and had been losing money since 2004. The average number of patients seeking in vitro fertilization treatments has dropped at the university from about 200 to 40 annually over the past four years.
"The market's not very big here," Lowery said. "Based on population, there are only a certain number of people who need fertility services. ... It's just not cost-effective in this market to have more than one program."
Moutos said his clinic has about 200 patients seeking treatment a year.
"We can easily absorb those patients from UAMS," he said.
Opened in 1988, the university clinic was the first and only facility offering in vitro fertilization in Arkansas for several years. But, now, its staff members have either left or moved into other positions at the university.
The embryos and sperm stored at the university will be transferred to Arkansas Fertility & Gynecology within the next few weeks.
The university will partner with Moutos, Miller and Batres to provide training for medical-school residents in reproductive endocrinology and fertility. University residents spend three months training at the private clinic, assisting with surgeries and other procedures, Moutos said.
"We are affiliating with them, and they're training the residents," said Leslie Taylor, university spokesman. "We have a great relationship with them, and it just makes sense to work with them."
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