Article - August 18, 2008 - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Dearth of dialysis beds ‘serious’
A hospital limits care, bringing other facilities more kidney patients

By Helen Altonn

Hawaii hospitals have been hit with an expected kidney dialysis crunch resulting in part from reduced service at Hawaii Medical Center-East in Liliha.

The hospital, formerly St. Francis Medical Center, usually had 20 to 30 dialysis patients in acute care at any one time but now has only five beds devoted to dialysis.

The change comes as Hawaii shows an increasing incidence of kidney disease related to high rates of diabetes and obesity, experts say. And patients often have costly complications.

"Dialysis patients have become disenfranchised, discriminated against," said Dr. Jared Sugihara, a kidney specialist. "No one wants to admit them."

A limit of five beds at Hawaii Medical Center-East for patients needing kidney dialysis and acute care has hit Oahu's other hospitals with an unexpected surge of dialysis cases.

The situation highlights Hawaii's growing incidence of kidney disease, related to high rates of diabetes and obesity, and the Hawaii hospital system's ability to deal with it.

Liberty Dialysis Hawaii LLC and Fresenius Medical Care, which operate outpatient dialysis facilities, are providing acute dialysis services at most hospitals under contract. Most say they are at or over capacity.

The Queen's Medical Center has an acute dialysis inpatient center with 12 machines and staff to treat 26 patients, and it has been 30 percent over capacity with increased patients and treatments, said Cheryl Fallon, nurse manager. "But when patients show up in the emergency room, we can't turn them away."

Fallon said the staff is working overtime and on days off, and the unit is working with a local agency to help supplement the staff and trying to hire and train new staff.

A broader issue is Hawaii's growing number of kidney patients, said Cathy Young, Queen's vice president for cardiac medicine and geriatric services. "We don't have enough capacity in our state to take care of this growing incidence of kidney failure.

"It's only going to increase," she said, suggesting the state Department of Health and hospital providers "come up with a plan" to handle it.

Full story


Page Information

  • 3 months ago [history]
  • View page source
  • You're not logged in
  • No tags yet learn more

Wiki Information

Recent PBwiki Blog Posts