We talk a lot about doing this ‘the Options way’. When I first arrived I wasn’t quite sure what folks meant. It wasn’t until I was on a trip to visit some clinics in the interior that I really got a sense of it. I was talking to one of our nurses and asked if she could recount a time that she felt really good about her job. She took no time at all and recounted the story of a young man, in his early 20s who had dropped in to the clinic. It was his first time at the clinic, he seemed uncomfortable and very anxious. He was brought into a private exam room and given the opportunity to talk about what brought him to the clinic that day. He spoke quickly and emotionally. He was sure that the symptoms he had would leave him unable to have children, unable to have sex and ultimately, unable to be loved, ever again – he had contemplated what he had left to live for. Our nurse listened to him, reassured him, educated him and treated him – she gave him the time he needed to process the information. This is ‘the Options way’ and you can count on it in every one of our clinics.

- Michelle Fortin, Executive Director