Dialysis patient, her daughter weigh treatment options

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Dialysis patient, her daughter weigh treatment options

By JESSICA SAVAGE
The Lufkin Daily News

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Undergoing recovery from a heart valve replacement the past two months in a hospital has kept dialysis patient Cassandra Mitchell happy with her kidney treatments. But as her health continues to improve daily, her daughter worries where her mother will go when she's ready for out-patient dialysis treatments.

"They haven't been able to get her in yet," said Ramona Mitchell, who has been looking for a place her mother can have treatments upon her hospital release.

Mitchell would like her mother to have her treatments at Henderson Kidney and Dialysis Center in Lufkin, but there is a waiting list, she said.

Her 57-year-old mother had been going to DaVita Lufkin Dialysis for six years up until April 22 — the day she was rushed to Houston to have a heart valve replaced.

Mitchell learned when she returned with her mother to Lufkin that DaVita had been closed down days after they left because of several patient deaths and health complications.

"I feel like I got her out just in time before we went to Houston," she said.

Her mother had been a patient there six years and never had any serious complications until this year. She was admitted to the emergency room twice after having suffered an overdose of Heparin — a drug used on dialysis patients to thin the blood during treatment.

"I had so much Heparin in my body it was toxic," Cassandra Mitchell said. "You can bleed to death (from an overdose)."

Having only two options in Lufkin for dialysis treatments, Mitchell's mother said she would prefer to have them done at Henderson, but isn't sure she will have a choice.

Henderson is currently operating at its maximum capacity of 66 patients, which it reached in late April after the temporary two-month closure of DaVita Lufkin Dialysis.

DaVita was investigated by state and federal health officials for regulatory compliance after the facility reported a spike in patient deaths and serious patient health complications. It re-opened July 2 after complying with the highest level of enforcement the state could impose, which involved hiring four facility monitors.

Lufkin police are continuing to investigate the involvement of a former nurse, who has been charged with injecting two patients with bleach, with other patient health complications.

DaVita has been ordered to reopen in phases, taking on more patients with state monitors' approval. When the facility reopened, it was treating nine patients. DaVita spokesman Michael Chee did not return a request Friday for an update on how many patients the center is currently treating.

During the closure of DaVita's 120-patient facility, Henderson treated several of the center's patients, most of whom decided to stay after DaVita reopened, according to Henderson director Patricia Jones. Henderson added a third shift to its treatment schedule in late April, which allowed the facility to care for another 22 patients. Jones said the center also hired additional staff during that time.

There is currently a waiting list at Henderson, and Mitchell said she hopes her mother is accepted once she is released from the hospital. But if she isn't, Mitchell said she feels as comfortable as she could be to send her mother to DaVita under the current circumstances.

"Now that they have staff monitors there I suppose it's safer than any other time," she said. "But what about when they leave? I guess I'll have to pay closer attention to her treatments then."
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