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Regional Renal Services: The Path to Feeling Better
There are approximately 350,000 patients in the United States
currently on dialysis, and there is a significantly higher number of
patients who have some form of chronic kidney disease that are not
yet on dialysis. This includes patients of every age, but the
majority of dialysis patients fall within the 60 to 70 year age
range.
With an aging population and an increase in diabetes in North
Dakota, St. Alexius Nephrology Clinic and Regional Renal Services
(Kidney Dialysis Unit) are vital to our community and our region.
Its Kidney Dialysis Unit (KDU) was established in 1973 and was the
first in Western North Dakota. St. Alexius offers comprehensive
management and therapy options of all stages of kidney disease and
kidney failure. This includes acute and chronic dialysis, as well as
home dialysis and home training. The satellite dialysis units in
Williston and Dickinson provide chronic dialysis only.
“We like to see people with kidney disease early in its course,”
says Earl Dunnigan, M.D. “We try to preserve kidney function as long
as possible. Those at high risk of kidney disease include those with
diabetes, high blood pressure or a family history of kidney disease,
including Polycystic Kidney Disease.”
All too often, those who are diagnosed with kidney disease think
that it signals the “beginning of the end,” when in fact that
doesn’t have to be the case. “It’s really the beginning of feeling
better,” says Karen Prussing, director of Regional Renal Services at
St. Alexius.
The continued growth and regional need for dialysis services has
been a factor in the current expansion and upgrade project within
the KDU. The unit is being completely rebuilt to include the best
water system used in dialysis procedures, as well as the highest
level of technology available in dialysis machines today. The unit
will be state-of-the-art in every way imaginable, right down to its
atmosphere.
“We will be able to dialyze 16 patients at one time,” says Prussing.
“Each patient will have individually-controlled heat, their own
flat-screen TV/DVD combination with personal entertainment options,
and a quality sound system that can play soft, tranquil music to
soften an often chaotic environment. It will be a pleasant, calming
atmosphere that appeals beyond basic treatment to a more holistic
approach to patient care.”
The increased number of units will mean more day-time availability
for nursing home patients and those who travel at night in the
sometimes tricky North Dakota weather for their dialysis treatments.
The units in Williston and Dickinson are completely updated and
operational. The St. Alexius upgrade carries a $1.2 million price tag.
The best technology, the best environment, together with a team of
nurses who have years of experience behind them and four
board-certified nephrologists, will ensure the excellence that St.
Alexius patients have come to know and trust.
For more information about Regional Renal Services at St.
Alexius, please call 530-8360.
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