Dialysis center begins taking Medicare patients

Desert Dialysis, which opened its Green Valley-Sahuarita doors in March, now has a total of eight patients, another six or seven expected this week, and has 40 to 45 on the waiting list, according to Administrator Larry Brauer.

Most of them are Medicare patients, but some are not, he said.

Medicare patients started enrolling for the procedures earlier this month. Before, there had been delays in Medicare enrollment.

Dialysis is a lengthy, tiring procedure, lasting three to five hours as the body’s liquid wastes are removed from the blood. Failing kidneys are the cause.

Before the center opened, medical director Joy Logan said patients had to drive to Tucson for the procedure, adding an hour or more to the whole process.

“Dialysis is no fun. It takes hard work, discipline and perseverance on the part of the patient,” said Logan, a nephrologist.

Nursing Manager Helen Simons said Tuesday the center is adding about two new patients a day for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The center is at 1700 W. Commerce Point Place, just west of the Sahuarita Police Station on Duval Mine Road.

Logan said, “This clinic is going to be a blessing to the folks who live down here.”

Plans to bring a dialysis center to the Green Valley area started in November 2004.

Brauer said new staff members are being trained to meet the expected patient increase.

The center has 24 hemodialysis machines and will be equipped soon to offer assistance with a peritoneal dialysis machine, which instead of a dialysis procedure, works by filtering a sterile fluid through the abdominal cavity, said an official.

The center is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and will eventually be open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

For information, call the center at 625-0103.

jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749