Digby dialysis unit opening welcomed
In the Barrington area, meanwhile, the wait continues
When Roger Manzer first settled into the chair to receive another of his ongoing kidney dialysis treatments, not only were his surroundings new and different but they were also – much to his relief – a lot closer to home.
Manzer was the first patient to receive dialysis at a new six-station dialysis unit at the Digby General Hospital when it opened in March. The drive from his Ashmore home took only 15 minutes.
Previous to this Manzer was making multiple 160-kilometre round trips each week to the Yarmouth Regional Hospital for dialysis. Often he'd get up around 6 or 7 a.m. to prepare to head down to Yarmouth for his morning appointments. He'd get back home around 3:30 p.m. The four-hour dialysis itself took up a huge chunk of his week, but travelling back and forth robbed more of his time.
“It's really great,” he says about the new Digby unit. “They open at 7. We get in a little early in the morning and I‘m home by 12:30.”
Construction of this unit, and one in Kentville, started in 2018, wrapping up this year. The Digby unit began accepting patients on March 15. On March 29, a 12-station unit at the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville opened, replacing a six-station unit in Berwick.
Dialysis is a process in which patients without fully functioning kidneys use specialized equipment or processes to remove waste, salt and extra water from their blood. Treatments usually run four hours and happen three times a week.
Dr. Brian Moses, Nova Scotia Health's internist responsible for Yarmouth and Digby, calls the opening of the Digby satellite unit exciting.
"Dialysis is a life-saving, but time-consuming, therapy at the best of times, and we have many patients who have travel times of more than an hour each way to and from our Yarmouth facility," he says. "To be able to give back up to six hours per week to our patients is a huge benefit for their quality of life."
In addition to Digby County patients, some Annapolis County patients will also access dialysis at the new $6-million unit. The Digby unit will also alleviate pressure on the unit at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital.
Health and Wellness Minister Zach Churchill says providing closer access to dialysis is a government priority.
"We have been working hard to build and expand dialysis units across the province to help lessen the stress on those clients and improve the quality of care that Nova Scotians deserve,” he says.
But Argyle-Barrington MLA Colton LeBlanc says more needs to be done and questions whether dialysis services will ever come to the Barrington area.
“This is an issue that has gone, now, through three ministers of Health and Wellness and that I have raised previously, and that my predecessor has raised previously,” LeBlanc said recently during a session in the legislature. He says the issue has been raised for over seven years.
Years ago, a Barringtonarea group met with the health minister of the day and presented letters signed by residents pointing to the need for a satellite clinic. Individual cases were provided as examples of the physical, emotional and financial hardships patients must endure due to the travel to Yarmouth, Liverpool or other areas for dialysis.
In response to questions by LeBlanc on March 23, Churchill said there has been a lot of investment and expansion in dialysis programming, noting areas such as Digby, Kentville, Bridgewater, the HRM area, and Cape Breton.
“We are looking at other modes of delivering dialysis as well for those who are further removed,” said Churchill, who is also the MLA for Yarmouth. “People in the western part of our province can access dialysis at Yarmouth Regional Hospital on the South Shore side and we will continue to look at ways to enhance that service as well.”
LeBlanc, however, says the issue still highlights a lack of access to health care in rural parts of the province.
“The minister noted that there have been projects announced in various parts of the province, but this does not include projects for those in Shelburne County,” he says, adding the commute to the Yarmouth Regional Hospital isn't a short one.
Churchill notes the province also has home dialysis options for patients at a distance from hospitals where dialysis is available.
Back in Digby County, meanwhile, Manzer says the opening of the dialysis unit is a game-changer for him and other patients. “I will sure miss the nurses down there in Yarmouth,” he says, but he won't miss the drive.