Center Review: Regional Dialysis Center

So I had my first HD experience outside of my home clinic this weekend. I dialyzed at the Regional Dialysis Center in Rapid City, SD.

This center is hospital-affiliated, not affiliated with Davita or FMC.

I walked into a cheery waiting room and the receptionist knew me by name, because I was the only person there she didn't recognize.

She got me checked in, took my temperature and gave me a hospital bracelet with a barcode. Everyone else who was there for the same shift got badges with barcodes on them.

The center itself was relatively large, about 24 chairs in total. The room was nicely decorated, with a hardwood-style floor that really made the room warm and more like home. Chairs were covered with sheets and two pillows and WARM BLANKETS (as many as you wanted) were provided.

There was a higher staff-to-patient ratio than I am used to in my home clinic. I counted no less than four RN's plus a group of techs. My tech was a dialysis patient herself, which I felt was a really nice touch.

As soon as I was set up, a cup of ice chips was brought with a spoon and I was also offered my choice of water, coffee or tea. Diabetics could also receive juice and crackers.

The wireless Internet was fast and strong. I plowed through 150 emails from my home email account while I was there on my Nook. The TVs were mounted a bit too high (my ONLY complaint!) but had twice as many channels as our TVs in our center.

Overall, it was like having dialysis in a spa compared to my home clinic. I plan on telling them the same because they wanted to know what it was like - they claim to have a track record of being better than the clinics that the patients travel to. Guess I'll break that streak.