Pacific Fertility Center’s Nursing and Clinical Coordination Team plays an integral role in assisting you through the entire treatment cycle. As a PFC patient, you cannot help but notice our nurses’ and coordinators’ genuine concern and personal commitment to providing you with excellent care.

Nursing Staff (RN and MA)

Our nursing staff includes a solid core of empathetic members who have been with Pacific Fertility Center (PFC) for many years. They enjoy what they do and it shows. We are proud to say people frequently comment on what a significant, positive role our nurses have played in their experience with us.

The contribution nurses make to your care ranges from education and reassurance about your fertility treatments to injection instruction and explanation of procedures. They phone you with lab results, answer your questions, schedule your visits and care for you during procedures. There is nursing staff available during clinic hours 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Click on links to read stories about our nurses published in Fertility Flash SM.
Ann McGovern, RN

Carol Willsey-Alyusuf,RN

Clinical Coordinators

Pacific Fertility Center is fortunate to have a staff of experienced Clinical Coordinators, some of whom have been with us for over a decade.

If your treatment involves IVF, your care will include the expertise of a personal Clinical Coordinator. Pacific Fertility Center’s Clinical Coordinators are compassionate educators whose role it is to ensure you achieve a thorough understanding of all aspects of your IVF plan. They play the crucial role of a supportive guide as they help you learn about and deal with the logistics involved in the coordination of your IVF cycle.

Director of Nursing

Karen Volpe, RN has been a contributing member of our team for well over a decade. She is responsible for a staff of 20 including RN's, medical assistants and clinical coordinators. In addition, she is responsible for maintaining accreditation of our center as required by the state of California and chairs PFC’s committee for quality improvement and risk management.

A native of New Rochelle, New York, Ms. Volpe was introduced to the British way of speaking at age 5 when her family moved to London. (You can’t miss her lovely accent.) There she attended the nursing school at the Whittington Hospital in Highgate, London.

Karen went on to complete a course in operating room nursing at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) in Hampstead, London and then gained experience in a variety of surgical specialties. While at RFH she assisted in laparoscopic egg retrievals with Professor Ian Craft, MD. Karen enjoyed working in the field of reproductive medicine, so shortly after moving to the Bay Area in 1984, she began coordinating one of the Bay Area’s first office-based IVF programs. In 1991, she joined San Francisco Center for Reproductive Medicine in its infancy – when facility still had bare walls and concrete floors, even before Dr. Carl Herbert and Dr. Philip Chenette joined that team. During this time she was responsible for purchasing all equipment for the clinic and procedure area and for training new staff. She has supported PFC through our clinic moves and staff changes. Her knowledgeable, compassionate approach to the plight of those undergoing infertility care has provided a solid foundation and clear direction as our nursing team has evolved.