Dialysis services closer to home for residents in York Region
New satellite location in Vaughan expected to open later this year
Friday February 13, 2009 -- Jason Thompson
The government of Ontario is making dialysis available closer to home for residents in York Region by investing more than $8 million for 24 dialysis machines in Vaughan.
Located at 9401 Jane St., the Vaughan Satellite Dialysis Unit will offer life-sustaining treatment for patients requiring dialysis. The satellite unit will be run by York Central Hospital as part of their regional dialysis program.
With a launch date set for later this year, the Vaughan Satellite Dialysis Unit will boast 24 new dialysis machines with the capacity to serve nearly 200 patients annually. By 2015/16, an additional nine machines will be added, bringing the total to 33.
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care David Caplan was at the Vaughan Satellite Dialysis Unit Feb. 5 to make the announcement. He was joined by Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi and Vaughan MPP Greg Sorbara.
“This new community dialysis satellite unit will not only improve access to vital life-saving services, but also allows patients to receive care closer to the comforts of home,” Caplan said in a news release.
“I am deeply committed to improving the quality of life for those living with chronic conditions like kidney disease.”
Barbara Gray, manager of the Chronic Kidney Disease Program at York Central Hospital, says because patients requiring dialysis services must report three times a week for treatment, the main benefit for patients and their families is the proximity.
“The closer it is to home, the less of an impact it has on their quality of life. It’s really about improving the quality of life for them by putting the facility in the community in which they live and taking it out of the hospital,” Gray says, noting many patients will likely find accessing dialysis services through the new site more convenient than travelling to York Central Hospital’s main site in Richmond Hill several times a week.
“It’s wonderful for patients that the Ministry of Health is looking at providing care closer to home. Transportation and the time it takes are among the biggest obstacles faced by our patients,” Gray says.
The Vaughan Satellite Dialysis Unit will also host an outpatient nephrology clinic which is staffed by members of the dialysis team including physicians and other health service providers who have been educated and trained in kidney diseases, kidney transplantation and dialysis therapy.
According to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the demand for kidney dialysis has been increasing by more than seven per cent each year due to Ontario's aging population and growing numbers of people with diabetes and high blood pressure. Increasing access to dialysis services is part of the government's four-year, $741-million diabetes strategy.
Click here for more information on the government’s diabetes strategy.