For most of Fiona Lake Waslander’s career, she has been an advocate for women in the workplace. From how they navigate the corporate ladder to where they get stuck, she understood what systems helped them succeed.
But it wasn’t until she started approaching her late 40s that a glaring gap became evident.
“Suddenly this whole topic of menopause comes out of nowhere,” she says. “As women, we know it’s coming, but somehow it still feels like it just hits you.”
Realizing she didn’t know as much about it as she thought, Waslander started doing some research into all the ways menopause affects women, and the options out there to help manage it.
But, like many of us, she quickly found herself frustrated.
“I couldn’t believe how few resources there were in Canada,” she said. “And the real clincher for me was realizing the impact on the workplace in particular – something I had never thought about.”
According to the Menopause Foundation of Canada, a third of women say their work is affected by menopause, and nearly half are too embarrassed to ask for help at work. That eventually leads to approximately 540,000 lost workdays due to menopause and $3.3B in lost income from reduced hours or leaving the workforce altogether.
“I had spent so much of my career focusing on mentorship, on making sure hiring practices were equitable, that pay increases and promotion practices were supporting women in the workplace… then to learn that there was this health issue that women were experiencing, that no one talked about, that has a major impact on their careers?” she continues. “It was truly an ah-ha moment.”
That moment would eventually lead Waslander to co-found Coral, a virtual clinic dedicated to helping women navigate menopause and perimenopause.
Trying to close the women’s health gap
At the centre of Coral is a simple idea: health doesn’t come from one thing alone.
“We think optimum health is going to come from a combination of medical interventions as well as lifestyle adjustments,” she says.
That belief shows up right from the start of care. Instead of focusing on a single symptom, Coral begins with a broader picture.
“We start with very detailed testing to make sure we understand the root cause of what’s going on,” she explains.
That includes testing for hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, as well as other markers such as cortisol, thyroid, insulin, iron, and cardiovascular risk.
From there, each patient is paired with a nurse, a nurse practitioner, and a health coach, ensuring every patient has access to prescriptions and clinical care, as well as support for sleep, stress, nutrition, and movement.
Through Coral’s platform, women can also see their lab results, understand where they fall within the ranges, and track how their results change over time. It’s a shift away from a model Waslander describes as too fragmented.
“The healthcare system is far more episodic in its care. You have a symptom, you go to the doctor, you get treatment. But what we’re missing is the long-term, longitudinal view,” she explains. “Most doctors are also not trained in menopause care, so they don’t necessarily recognize what could be going on.”
The result is that many women are left trying to piece things together on their own – often while still working full-time, caring for others, or both.
“If I haven’t slept last night because I’ve had night sweats and insomnia, how can I function at all?” she says. “My brain fog… I’ve always prided myself on my mental ability… and when that starts being affected, I start questioning everything.”
Funding for more care
Early results from the platform suggest that more integrated menopause care can make a difference.
“Users have reported 80 per cent improvement in mental wellness and 70 per cent improvement in symptoms just after three months,” says Waslander, adding that Coral isn’t meant to replace your family doctor, but support women where they need it.
And while there is a monthly fee for services, in many cases, Coral fees qualify for reimbursement through various insurance programs, such as Health or Wellness Spending Accounts.
“We’re looking at symptoms, but also looking at your total quality of life. That’s where I feel like we really make a difference, and that’s where we can complement the medical support women are getting from the traditional channels.”
And now, with $4 million in additional VC funding behind them, the team will be able to reach even more women across the country.
Currently available in seven provinces, Waslander says this boost will help Coral expand into the remaining three provinces and the territories. It will also help the team expand its focus to other areas of women’s health, such as weight management and nutrition.
But even as the platform grows, the underlying motivation for Waslander hasn’t really changed.
“Every time I speak with a woman on our platform, it just gives me chills,” she says. “When I think that we’ve managed to put a solution out in the market that someone calls life changing… it just makes me feel so great.”
