CENTER GIVES PATIENTS A CHOICE

JACKSON -- The diagnosis of kidney failure gives people three basic options: They can do nothing, apply for an organ transplant or begin kidney dialysis.

The first option is unacceptable for most people -- a body can't function without a means of cleaning its blood. The second option may take months or years, depending on the availability of a donor. In addition, it opens the patient to risks of infection or organ rejection.

For many people with failed kidneys, dialysis is the preferred option, and professionals at Cape County Regional Dialysis Center hope people prefer to get their dialysis in Jackson.

The seven-unit center, which opened in August, is Jackson's only dialysis treatment facility. The owner, Dr. Ramiro Icaza, decided to make the center look more like a home than a doctor's office. Because dialysis takes at least three hours a day three days a week, the center is a second home to many.

"We looked in Cape Girardeau for a building and nothing was available," office manager Lisa Bohnert said. "Then we found out St. Francis (Medical Center) was moving its branch, so we picked this location."

She hopes people will like the new center so much that some will come from Cape Girardeau to get treatment.

The Regional Dialysis Center is stocked with the newest computerized dialysis machines, with all information pertinent to the procedure printed on a screen. Soon, each person will have his own small television screen to watch TV during dialysis.

The machines draw a patient's blood through a special tube, run it through a cleansing system and put it back in. In a healthy patient, the kidneys do this job, turning waste products into urine for the body to expel.

Kidneys break down due to hypertension and diabetes, charge nurse Teresa Hornbeak said. She and nurse Linda Littrell work with patients as they go through dialysis.

The center offers other services too, including a registered dietitian, a social worker and a transplant coordinator. Nurses also can help people set up a home dialysis regimen.

Regional Dialysis Center cooperates with St. Louis University Medical Center and DePaul Health Center.

Dialysis hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but when patient load is higher, hours will expand to 7 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

An open house is planned for Sept. 14 from 4-7 p.m.