April 25, 2014
RED DEER – All Red Deer patients who require dialysis will receive their treatment at Red Deer Regional Hospital, meaning patients will not be required to travel for treatment outside the city.
Additional dialysis capacity will be added in the short term at Red Deer Regional; a solution that has been in the works for several weeks.
This additional capacity also means that three Red Deer patients currently travelling for treatment will now receive dialysis in their community.
Alberta Health Services is reaching out to all Red Deer dialysis patients, to explain the capacity challenges we are currently facing, and to reassure them that they will not have to travel for treatment.
In the longer term, AHS is working hard to find a solution that will provide further dialysis capacity in Red Deer.
AHS understand the concerns of our dialysis patients in Red Deer. It is our preference for all dialysis patients to receive treatment close to home, and we do all we can to ensure that happens.
AHS continually works with patients to ensure that they get the dialysis treatments they need as close to home as possible.
Dialysis is a life-saving, specialized service that is not easily or quickly expanded to every community. Not every community requires a renal dialysis service, and it would be impossible to offer such a service in every town across the province. However, we are committed to ensuring that people who need dialysis get the treatment and care they need.
If patients do need to travel for dialysis service, we do all we can to limit the distance they have to travel, and will work with them to make that travel as easy as possible.
For some patients, home hemodialysis is an option. Home hemodialysis provides the best outcomes and quality of life and eliminates the need for patient travel. AHS has significantly expanded home dialysis across the province in recent years.
AHS is also working hard to reduce the number of patients who require dialysis, through Primary Care initiatives aimed at keeping people healthy. For example, we have recently expanded our Rural Preventative Clinics, including diabetic nephropathy and rural nephrology. This has resulted in fewer patients needing dialysis, and provides services closer to the patient’s home.
There are 20 dialysis stations in Red Deer, operating from 7 a.m. 11:15 p.m., six days a week. AHS currently has the capacity to treat 120 patients per week in Red Deer.
Dialysis spaces in Central Zone include Red Deer (20 spaces), Wetaskiwin (12 spaces), Rocky Mountain House (six spaces), Stettler (six spaces), Vegreville (six spaces), Lloydminster (five spaces), Olds (six spaces) and Drayton Valley (four spaces).
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
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