The Brookfield Chair and Osteoporosis Canada are seeking to connect with clinical teams across the country who are ready to start an FLS in their hospital – but who lack funding for the FLS Nurse salary and other startup costs.
Since the founding of the Chair in 2020, working in collaboration with Osteoporosis Canada and with local clinical teams, new sites have been initiated in Surrey BC, Charlottetown PEI, Fredericton NB, Chilliwack BC, St John’s and Corner Brook NFLD, with a site starting soon in Whitehorse YU. Additional funding has enabled Dr. Sonia Singh’s FLS in White Rock BC to expand its services.
Three sites have already transferred to public funding and only one has failed to do so after two years of seed funding.
A Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) is a specific model of care where a coordinator pro-actively identifies fracture patients, on a system-wide basis, and determines their fracture risk with the express purpose of facilitating effective osteoporosis treatment for high-risk patients. FLS is, by far, the most effective secondary fracture prevention method to ensure fracture patients receive the osteoporosis care they need to prevent additional fractures.
There are approximately 52 active FLS sites in Canadian Hospitals. This means that less than 20% of hospitals that have an orthopaedic service treating fractures have coverage for guideline-indicated interventions to prevent future hip and other severe fragility fractures.
The Brookfield Chair in Fracture Prevention at the University of Toronto can seed fund new FLS programs for two years, to enable them to start up and reach a level of function that enables them to secure public funding.
The teams usually consist of an osteoporosis specialist allied with an orthopaedic surgeon, and often in touch with a supportive person in hospital administration.
