Jones Institute Opens New Surgical Outpatient Center
and IVF Laboratory

The Jones Institute has opened a new outpatient surgical center which is designed to provide patients with a private and comfortable setting for all of their 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 Norfolk Sentara General Hospital, may now be handled in the Institute.

The new $1.7 million facility was formally unveiled on April 4, 2007. EVMS President Harry T. Lester welcomed faculty, physicians, scientists, staff and former patients who came to see the new operating room for outpatient surgery, as well as the IVF laboratories. Mr. Lester introduced Dean Gerald J. Pepe, Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of OB/GYN, Dr. Alfred Z. Abuhamad and the Director of the Jones Institute, Dr. Sergio Oehninger. Each of the doctors recognized Dr. Howard W Jones, Jr., who attended the ribbon-cutting, and they warmly recounted the many “firsts” attributed to the Jones Institute.

By the time the Jones Institute was officially formed in l983, all outpatient procedures were performed at a nearby hospital. The process was more complicated 25 years ago and, therefore more expensive. Since the procedures have been simplified over the years, the Institute has been able to more efficiently handle larger numbers of patients. Now with the all of the treatments housed in one building, the patient will reap the financial reward.

The Jones Institute actually 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 unusual and therefore so successful is their ability to conduct translational basic science research in all areas of reproductive medicine and then apply those groundbreaking discoveries to the benefit of the patient – 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 perfect egg and 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.