Dialysis woes

Dialysis woes

Published 10/9/2007

Losing easy access to medical treatment hurts.

So it's been for a number of local dialysis patients who suddenly found themselves forced to travel out of town for care.

That unfortunate situation came about when DaVita Dialysis Center, a company that had been operating in St. Catherine Hospital space at 310 E. Walnut St., said it no longer could offer its services there because of safety hazards and mold in the building.

Subsequent testing by the Garden City Fire Department, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and two separate firms --¬ one hired by DaVita, the other by St. Catherine --¬ turned up no evidence of airborne mold, but DaVita cited a desire to remove nonairborne mold its independent firm reportedly found.

A KDHE report showed DaVita had the OK to move back into the space Aug. 1, but the company declined. DaVita has looked at alternative spaces offered by the hospital, but has yet to make a decision on those.

All the while, local dialysis patients have been forced to seek treatment in Dodge City and Pratt -- inconvenient at best for many with work and family obligations who now have the added burden of heading out of town for dialysis treatment.

The hope is they won't have to do so much longer. A community the size of Garden City shouldn't be without a dialysis provider, and alternatives already are emerging.

One, Fresenius Medical Care Dialysis Clinics, offers dialysis treatment in Dodge City, Liberal, Hays, Great Bend and Lamar, Colo., and has acknowledged taking a look at Garden City.

St. Catherine has tried to accommodate DaVita, even offering 90 days of free rent in an alternative space as an interim solution. Meanwhile, DaVita is exploring other options in Garden City, although it's not known how long it might take for that company or another to provide the needed service.

What is known is that dialysis patients are caught in the middle, and left to suffer the consequences.

While it would appear that parties involved are striving to find an answer, it's not happening quickly enough for dialysis patients who need and deserve an immediate solution that allows them to resume their normal routine of receiving care close to home.

http://www.gctelegram.com/Commentary/141205