Local Jobs Remain Unfilled, Patient Access to Quality Dialysis Care Compromised as Government Inspection Process Tries to Catch UpThu Sep 17, 2009 3:15pm EDT
38 Dialysis Facilities Across Texas Remain Shuttered to Medicare,
Medicaid-Financed Dialysis Patients While Providers Patiently Await Inspection
Process
DALLAS--(Business Wire)--
Local officials, physicians and patients in need of local dialysis care
expressed encouragement over what appears to be a thawing of a certification
logjam of dialysis facilities across the state of Texas, though remain concerned
over 38 which still remain idling to many for more than a year - to the
detriment of local jobs and patients in dire need of better access to quality
dialysis care.
"The bottom line is that our federal and state officials have worked very well
together to help initiate the critical certification process necessary to open
22 new dialysis centers across Texas, but 38 facilities are idling because the
process itself has fallen behind the legitimate demand generated by the
marketplace," said Jess Hall, President of the Texas Division of the National
Kidney Foundation (NKF). "Those being impacted by this phenomenon are local
communities needing more available jobs in a high unemployment economy, and
prospective patients themselves who need access to local dialysis treatment."
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison - working with working with
Dallas-area Representatives Michael Burgess (R-Lewisville), Louis Gohmert
(R-Tyler),Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), Ralph Hall (R-Rockwall), Jeb Hensarling
(R-Dallas), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Dallas), Sam Johnson (R-Plano), Kenny
Marchant (R-Coppell) and Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) - recently led a bipartisan
Texas congressional delegation letter-writing effort to officials of the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in Washington, D.C. spotlighting the
fact that many local dialysis facilities were facing certification backlog
delays of up to 18 months. "These delays cause severe challenges for Texas
Medicare beneficiaries` access to care, as well as threaten the viability of
these facilities as part of the Texas economy," warned their letter. Federal
officials then worked with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS),
resulting in the recent initiation of the certification process necessary to
open 22 new dialysis centers across the state.
But local officials, physicians and those in need of dialysis treatment say the
same rationale that helped initiate the certification process for the original
22 facilities is still applicable to the remaining 38 facilities - one of which
is in Plano, Texas - and asked that the inspection process be expedited.
"Our responsibility as dialysis care providers is to meet the health care needs
of our community," said Kathy Baxley, facility administrator at DaVita Plano
Dialysis Center. "Kidney disease and kidney failure are at epidemic levels, and
we are able to help locally by providing state-of-the-art facilities and skilled
labor to care for Plano`s citizens. But unfortunately, our hands are tied as we
sit back and continue to wait."
Ethel Powell, whose husband is currently on regular dialysis treatment at
another facility in Collin County, said, "The Plano facility is close enough to
our home that my husband would be able to drive himself for treatment three
times a week. Instead, I have had to change my work schedule to be able drive
him to and from a facility that is farther away for his care, which doesn`t make
much sense."
According to 2008 estimates, more than 32,000 Texans suffering from ESRD - also
known as kidney failure - rely on dialysis to perform the life-saving function
of filtering their blood when their kidneys are no longer able to do so.
Dialysis treatments also improve patients` health by removing excess salt and
water from the body; helping to control blood pressure; and keeping a safe level
of essential chemicals - such as potassium, sodium and bicarbonate - in the
body.
Texas U.S. House members who signed the letter to CMS are Reps. Pete Sessions,
Ron Paul, Gene Green, Mike Conaway, Michael Burgess, Pete Olson, Kevin Brady,
Kenny Marchant, Chet Edwards, Louie Gohmert, Kay Granger, Ted Poe, Sheila
Jackson Lee, Ralph Hall, Randy Neugebauer, Charlie Gonzalez, John Carter, Ruben
Hinojosa, Henry Cuellar, Michael McCaul, Sam Johnson, Jeb Hensarling, Lamar
Smith, John Culberson, Al Green, Eddie Bernice Johnson and Solomon Ortiz.
Texas Renal Coalition
Leigh Ann Bradley, 703-548-0019
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS173209+17-Sep-2009+BW20090917
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