St. Joe’s dialysis unit gets a much needed upgrade
A chance visit to St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s dialysis unit by a local philanthropist led to a major renovation.
After local businessperson Jack Marchese happened by and poked his head into the unit, he recognized the need for an upgrade. A major financial donation and some additional public fundraising followed, and the result was unveiled during a reopening in November 2019.
Many of the changes made during the 18-month restoration are cosmetic, designed to improve patient comfort and safety. The unit offers better lighting, more open space, and new work stations for staff that have been consolidated into the area from various places within the hospital.
Patient lounges are more comfortable, featuring wall art to soothe the soul. They’ve added new rooms for learning, as well as private examination rooms. There are new chairs for patients, and increased storage for supplies.
The major technological change is a new reverse-osmosis water filtration system, replacing one that was 16 years old. The dialysis treatment, which lasts several hours, uses roughly 120 litres of water per treatment and is critical to ensuring patient health.
The dialysis unit features 47 patient stations, including eight nocturnal stations where patients undergo treatment overnight. And even with row upon row of stations, the need remains great. St. Joe’s has more than 640 patients in the dialysis program, and saw an increase of nine per cent over the past year.