Dialysis services are going to be expanded in Liverpool.
The province is investing $30 thousand at Queens General Hospital to add an evening shift in the unit.
The six-station unit currently operates two shifts a day, six days a week, but the expansion will allow 12 more patients to receive care.
“We know that people need and deserve care closer to home,” said Public Works Minister Kim Masland, MLA for Queens, on behalf of Michelle Thompson, Minister of Health and Wellness. “Improving healthcare doesn’t always mean a complete overhaul. Sometimes we can deliver more care faster by simply building on what’s in place. Adding one shift to this unit will make a world of difference for the people who are waiting for care or needing to travel hours to get it.”
It will take effect this summer and help patients who have to travel to Kentville or Halifax
Quick Facts:
— $3.58 million is also being invested to expand renal care at Sutherland Harris Memorial Hospital in Pictou; an additional eight dialysis stations will be set up, enabling care for up to 22 more patients each week
— a temporary, six-station dialysis unit opened in September at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst; the hospital’s redevelopment project includes a new, permanent 12-station dialysis unit
— six-station dialysis sites have also been added in Digby, Glace Bay and Dartmouth, and a 12-station site has been added in Kentville
— the dialysis unit at Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville recently expanded to include an evening shift six days a week, bringing total capacity to 72 patients
— patients on dialysis usually receive treatment three days a week, and treatment takes four to five hours
