Former dance club transforms into dialysis center

[okarol]

Former dance club transforms into dialysis center

BY STEPHEN J. PYTAK (STAFF WRITER SPYTAK@REPUBLICANHERALD.COM)
Published: October 31, 2010

FRACKVILLE - The public is invited to a night at the former Memory Lane night club at Schuylkill Mall to see how it's been transformed into a dialysis center run by a national privately owned chain.

"The space was abandoned for some time. And when you walk in now it's bright, it's cheerful, it's beautiful. It's a complete transformation and welcoming to our patients," Sharon Demboski, Scranton, a regional operations director for DaVita Inc., said Friday.

DaVita Frackville Dialysis, 801 Schuylkill Mall Road, opened Sept. 1, with office hours from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. An open house is scheduled 5 to 7 p.m. Nov. 10.

"There will be opportunities for people to learn more about kidneys and end-stage renal disease. And we want to make sure people know where we are," Demboski said.

Dialysis is necessary when the kidneys are not able to filter the blood. It's the process of cleansing the blood by passing it through a special machine and allows patients with kidney failure a chance to live productive lives.

There are several types of dialysis, including various types of hemodialysis, a process in which a patient's blood is filtered through a machine either at a clinic or at home.

DaVita Frackville Dialysis currently serves five patients who use the hemodialysis machines on site, Demboski said.

But DaVita can offers services to peritoneal dialysis patients, and dialysis patients who do hemodialysis at home.

The word DaVita means "he or she gives life," Demboski said.

DaVita Inc. started in California in 1999; it's now a Fortune 500 company with clinics in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

"We have more than 1,500 dialysis centers in the nation and more than 100 just in Pennsylvania. Overall, we treat about 130,000 patients," Demboski said.

In February, Elaine Maneval, general manager of Schuylkill Mall, announced the dialysis clinic was planning to move into the 5,815-square-foot space.

DaVita Inc., now based in Denver, invested $1.2 million in renovations, Demboski said.

"The clinic has installed a water purification system, meeting the stringent standards set by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. This system provides high quality pure water utilized in the dialysis process," Demboski said.

The facility includes a waiting room, a treatment room with 12 hemodialysis stations, a home hemodialysis treatment area, offices for administration, a social worker and dietician, a biomedical technician and physician and a conference room, Demboski said.

It is staffed by two registered nurses, a social worker, a dietician, a biomedical technician and a patient care technician. The facility administrator is Teresa Diak and the medical director is Dr. Evan Norfolk, she said.

This is the first DaVita dialysis unit to open in the county, with the next-closest in Mount Carmel.

The facility is open three days a week and Demboski said she's hoping it's able to expand to six days a week and add staff.

"The hours will increase as our patient census increases," she said.

Anyone with questions can call the center at 874-1238 or go to the company website at www.davita.com.

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