HEMODIALYSIS SERVICE EXPANDS IN YORKTON

Residents in Yorkton and area who suffer from kidney failure now have better access to hemodialysis services.

The province has committed $725,000 in annual funding to allow Sunrise Health Region’s hemodialysis satellite to expand its hours and add extra staff.  The renal unit will be able to accommodate an additional 12 patients who need regular hemodialysis – a 50 per cent increase in services.

Health Minister Len Taylor said expansion of hemodialysis services reflects the government’s commitment to provide accessible, quality health care services for Saskatchewan families, within a sustainable health system.

“We recognize the growing need for hemodialysis, and this expansion is part of our plan to improve public health care by reducing wait times and expanding access to services,” Taylor said.  “This investment will make a significant difference in the lives of individuals and their families by providing them with services closer to home.  I thank Sunrise Health Region and its unit’s excellent staff for their support in this priority area.”

“The expanded service positively affects those patients who will no longer have to spend the time and resources travelling for their treatments to Regina,” Sunrise chief executive officer Joe Kirwan said.  “Reducing their travel time should, in turn, help to reduce some of the stress associated with treatment.”

Dialysis centres in Saskatoon and Regina provide about 75 per cent of Saskatchewan’s hemodialysis services, and act as “home units” for seven satellite sites across the province.  The other satellites are located in Prince Albert, Tisdale, Moose Jaw, Lloydminster, Swift Current and North Battleford.

“The need for dialysis service has grown by about eight per cent this year,” Regina home unit and the southern satellites Medical Director Dr. Cam Wilson said.  “Yorkton’s expanded unit will help meet the rising demand, and I am pleased that it will also support Regina’s hemodialysis centre by reducing the number of patients using that facility.”

Saskatchewan Health continues to support initiatives that will promote the positive benefits of healthy lifestyles in preventing Type 2 diabetes, the leading cause of kidney disease.  It costs between $40,000 and $50,000 per year to provide hemodialysis to one patient.  It is also very important for people to consider organ donation and discuss it with family members, as many patients prefer kidney transplantation to dialysis treatment options.

Hemodialysis is a form of kidney replacement therapy which removes waste from the blood by simulating natural kidney function.  The other form of dialysis, peritoneal dialysis, is done at home.  Dialysis prevents a build up of toxins that can be debilitating and ultimately fatal.
About 670 dialysis patients receive care in Saskatchewan, approximately 540 of whom receive hemodialysis.  Another 129 people use peritoneal dialysis, 417 people are living with a kidney transplant and more than 1,130 patients with various stages of chronic kidney disease are attending Chronic Renal Insufficiency (CRI) clinics.  The CRI program operates as an inter-disciplinary approach to chronic kidney disease care, to delay or prevent the need for kidney replacement therapy.

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For more information, contact:

Joan Petrie
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: jpetrie@health.gov.sk.ca

Scott Donaldson
Sunrise Health Region
Yorkton
Phone: 306-786-0733