PEORIA, Ill. — The Central Illinois region’s first hospital-based dialysis center is now open in Peoria.
UnityPoint Health opened the center Thursday, Sept. 10, and the hospital can serve 14 patients at one time.
They are also able to give each patient personalized care and attention, says Chief Medical Officer Dr. Samer Sader.
Sader said the real personal touch comes in because of the ratio of nurses and nurse assistants that will be able to see each patient. In addition, UnityPoint has social workers and dietitians available that can help patients in various ways.
Director of Dialysis and Pain Management Stephanie Cicero said that each patient has convenient access to their clinical staff at any time because of the center’s open floor plan.
One of the main goals of the center is overall patient care.
“The main goal of this facility is to provide a location for patients to do dialysis that is comfortable, and the patients can receive the care that they need,” said Sader.
With the center being in a hospital, Sader added that it provides a way to integrate the care of the patient from kidney disease all the way through dialysis. It also allows patients to walk to other parts of the hospital should they need other care.
UnityPoint does offer in-home dialysis, but the center will be available for those who cannot or choose not to do in-home treatments.
“We heard that dialysis patients in the community wanted a better environment to receive dialysis care, and UnityPoint answered that call,” said Cicero.
Kidney dialysis is a treatment that removes waste, salt and extra water from your body. People usually need dialysis treatment to treat End Stage Renal Disease, hypertension, other kidney diseases and acute kidney injury, according to UnityPoint Health.
