Nelson City Council will send a letter to three health agencies advocating for kidney dialysis treatment at Kootenay Lake Hospital.
At its Nov. 7 meeting, council voted to write to the West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District Board, with copies to Interior Health Authority and the Ministry of Health, explaining the need for a kidney dialysis machine for hemodialysis patients in Nelson, Mirror Lake, Salmo, Slocan Valley, Woodbury and Ainsworth.
Kaslo Village Council passed a similar resolution at its Oct. 24 meeting.
Currently the nearest kidney dialysis service is at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail. There are also dialysis machines in hospitals in Creston and Grand Forks.
Mayor Janice Morrison said that council has heard from a number of local dialysis patients that Interior Health does not provide a shuttle service from Nelson to Trail for this service.
Those requiring treatment who are unable to drive themselves or perform home dialysis have been left with limited transportation options that are time-consuming and expensive.
A dialysis machine is an artificial kidney through which a patient’s blood is pumped for purification, then returned to the body.
Dialysis treatments are typically given three times per week, with each treatment lasting three-to-four hours.
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