Released on June 5, 2013
Patients in the Cypress Health Region who are living with kidney disease will soon have better access to treatment. The hemodialysis unit at the Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current will increase its capacity from the current12 patients to 18 by end of 2013 with the opportunity for further expansion to 24 patients in total.
“The need for expanded hemodialysis services in our health region has been a priority for me over the years, and was one of the major issues raised with me when I was first elected,” Premier and Swift Current MLA Brad Wall said. “The increase in capacity at the dialysis unit at the hospital in Swift Current will accommodate local patients on the waiting list who deserve to receive treatment closer to home instead of travelling – sometimes through inclement weather and at their own cost – to places like Regina for the life-saving treatment they need. I would like to especially thank the patients and their families who have been advocating for this for a very long time.”
The unit will be open six days a week, up from three days a week. The province is providing $690,000 in annual operating funding for the expanded service.
“I would like to express my appreciation to everyone who took an active interest in the expansion of the Cypress Regional Hospital’s renal dialysis unit,” Swift Current resident who requires dialysis Craig Brown said. “For patients who are requiring treatment for end-stage kidney failure, we appreciate the chance to receive the care here in Swift Current instead of having to travel somewhere else. We are pleased the letter and emails of those advocating for an expansion have been successful.”
The unit will be open Monday to Saturday and serve 18-24 patients once full staffing complements and training are realized, up from 12 patients. The change increases the number of dialysis treatments that can be provided each week without the need for extra space or additional equipment. New staff will be trained by Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region’s Chronic Kidney Disease Program staff.
“Residents of the southwest have been fortunate to have a hemodialysis unit available close to home, since its inception in 2000 and expansion in 2005,” Cypress Health Region Senior Medical Officer Dr. Ivo Radevski said. “These quality-of-life enhancing medical processes are an important tool for our physicians to treat patients. They will appreciate the additional capacity to provide these treatments to more of their patients right here at the Cypress Regional Hospital.”
“We are very appreciative of the government’s ongoing commitment to our hemodialysis program offered within our health region,” Executive Director of Health Services with the region Gloria Illerbrun said. “The ability to train and recruit additional specialized nursing positions will allow us to provide these life-saving services to patients in the southwest, without the need for them to travel longer distances to receive that care.”
There are six hemodialysis machines at the hospital, used to replicate the kidneys’ function of filtering toxins and impurities out of the blood stream. Because dialysis is a lengthy blood filtering process, only two patients per day, per machine can be treated.
Cypress Health Region, its 1,700 staff and affiliated health organizations serve about 80 rural and urban municipalities and nearly 44,000 people in the southwest corner of Saskatchewan.
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For more information, contact:
Tyler McMurchy
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Cell: 306-537-3594
Brad Boutilier
Cypress Health Region
Swift Current
Phone: 306-778-5407
Email: brad.boutilier@cypressrha.ca