Doctor brings dialysis to homes of patients

Doctor brings dialysis to homes of patients

* By CHRISTINE MORGAN ARCENEAUX
* Advocate Livingston-Tangipahoa editor
* Published: Aug 5, 2010

HAMMOND — Nephrologist Kimberly Williams is taking her practice to her patients.

The 35-year old physician is committed to making it easier for them, many of whom have kidney disease and require dialysis, to get the care they need at home.

In her new practice, Williams will offer home dialysis, a trend that has become more popular in the last several years, she said.

“I try to offer it to my patients who still work and have busy lives,” she said.

Home dialysis gives her patients the luxury of still receiving the needed treatments while also being able to carry on with “normal” lives.

After attending Xavier University, Williams attended medical school at LSU in New Orleans followed by a residency program at LSU and a fellowship with LSU and Ocshner Clinic. Williams immediately went into private practice in 2006 in Montgomery, Ala., where she spent about a year and a half caring for patients.

A love of Louisiana and her family brought her back home.

“I was homesick,” Williams said.

After working with other doctors to help people with chronic kidney disease, Williams decided to launch her own practice in Hammond and Covington.

“I like dialysis, I like the fact that people can have an organ that has totally failed and they can be kept alive with a machine,” she said.

“I have patients that have had it (dialysis) for several years,” Williams said. “A lot of it has to do with (the patients’) compliance.”

As a child, Williams always wanted to be a teacher.

“All of my teachers were fantastic,” Williams said, recalling her elementary school years. “They were my role models.”

But, her dream of becoming a teacher quickly changed when, in her junior year at Baton Rouge High School, Williams attended a pre-med summer program at Xavier University. There, Williams was thrown immediately into bookwork and studying.

“That was it,” Williams said. “I always liked chemistry, biology and math. I always liked physics.” However, the true test of her fate was taking care of patients, being around people not just doing research, she said.

“It was difficult. It was intriguing,” she said. “It made me put more effort into it. And, I loved it once I understood it.”

When she would get discouraged and begin to wonder if she had made the right decision at times, Williams said she would take a break, catch a movie, take a drive and pray.

Clearing her head, she said, gave her the perseverance to move forward.

Today, in her new practice, Williams cares for individuals with chronic kidney disease, dialysis and hypertension. The average age of her patients is between 40 and 60. Most of them, she said, are diabetic. She blames the high rate of diabetes in this state on Louisianans’ diets.

She recommends that diabetics have regular screening to make sure that protein isn’t present in their urine.

In addition to her work at two newly opened offices, Williams spends time at nearby hospitals, doing rounds and caring for her patients.

While she easily puts in a 12-hour day, Williams isn’t discouraged by the workload.

“When my patients reassure me and thank me for my hard work, and when I see them getting better, I know at that moment that I am meant to do this,” she said.

Her main goal is not only to help patients get proper care but to treat them with respect.

“Professional physicians like for their patients to be treated respectfully, not only treated well medically, but treated well as a person,” Williams.

To make an appointment at the Covington office, call (985) 845-9000. The office is at 397 La. 21, Suite 601, Madisonville, in the Arbor Walk Professional Plaza.

To make an appointment at the Hammond office, call (985) 845-9000. The office is located at 109 W. Minnesota Park Road, Suite 3, Hammond.

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