Dialysis unit up and running

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Janice Kennedy hopes that the opening of a new hemodialysis unit in the Battlefords Union Hospital will mean less travelling for local Aboriginal people who have to undergo the treatment.

Kennedy is executive director for the Battlefords Tribal Council Indian Health Centre. She explained that hemodialysis is used to clean impurities out of a patient's blood.

"Your whole blood goes through the machine. It filters out all the bad stuff, then it puts the good stuff back in your body. It is like an artificial kidney machine."

People have to undergo hemodialysis when they have kidney disease, or if they have kidney failure, which can be one of the long-term complications of diabetes. And the high occurrence of diabetes within the Aboriginal community can translate into a high number of Aboriginal people requiring hemodialysis.

"For some people the disease affects their kidneys, so this machine acts as their kidneys. People need to be aware that they can live comfortably even when they are on dialysis. It is not a death sentence."

Having the unit operating in North Battleford will save some patients from having to drive to Saskatoon for treatment, Kennedy said. But, she added, there are certain criteria that patients will have to meet in order to take advantage of the unit.

"If people have other conditions stemming from the disease such as eye problems ... then that is going to have to be treated at a larger centre," Kennedy said. "Diabetes is a serious disease in itself, but it is the complications that are associated with diabetes that create the problems. If you do not have your blood sugars under control, if you are overweight, if you smoke or if you are not eating right then it starts affecting your kidneys and your eyesight," she said.

For many local patients, travelling to Saskatoon for treatment takes up an entire day, with three hours of driving time each way and four to six hours for the treatment itself.

Because the new hemodialysis unit just came online at the beginning of March, Kennedy said, it's not yet clear how many patients will be using the new unit.

"So it will be interesting to see in six months how many clients are able to use and to see the outcome, especially for the BTC members who utilize it," Kennedy said. "At this point I'm not sure how it is going to impact the communities. On one hand it is good to have the centre closer to North Battleford. But then again if only one out of 10 clients are able to use this one here this still does not solve the other nine clients' problems in terms of travel," she said.

Kennedy said there are preventative steps people with diabetes can take before they are at the point where they need dialysis. The first one is as simple as getting a thorough checkup from their doctor.

"I believe that people with diabetes should get all types of tests done when they go and see their doctor, such as asking to get their urine tested for everything so that they would not have to go on kidney dialysis. And also to take their shoes and socks off so that the doctor can look at their feet for ingrown toe nails or infections. Because a lot of times the doctor won't ask you if you've had this checkup done. These are little things that the client should be aware of when visiting the doctor," she said.

"I believe that diabetes is a concern everywhere. In our area we've had different screening clinics going back to 1998 and back then there was a high percentage-probably about 22 per cent of our people had it. So it is quite a health concern," she said. "We are seeing some success but not to where we want to be at."

The provincial government contributed $300,000 toward the cost of renovating the hospital in order to accommodate the new hemodialysis unit. The cost of the unit itself was covered through a partnership between the hospital and the Gold Eagle Casino Community Development Corporation, with the hospital contributing $130,000 raised thrugh a cash lottery, and the corporation providing just over $341,000.