The Ontario Government announced funding for a capital grant for up to $9.9 million for a new Dialysis Unit which the Kingston Health Sciences Centre will locate off-site at a location within the City of Kingston still to be determined.
The funding announcement was made Thursday by MPP Robin Martin, parliamentary assistant to minister of health Christine Elliott, and Hastings-Lennox and Addington MPP Daryl Kramp.
“This is the very definition of good planning for a real future need,” said Kramp. “KHSC demonstrates once again that they understand both the community needs, and their capacity to meet them, and is moving to ensure there is no gap between need and capacity. The Government is pleased to provide this much-needed funding.”
“Investing in Kingston Health Sciences Centre’s new dialysis unit is one more way our government is building a stronger, more resilient health care system,” said Martin. “This funding will ensure that patients and families in Kingston have access to the care they need closer to home and for generations to come.”
“I would like to extend our sincere thanks to MPP Kramp and PA Martin, as well as the Ministry of Health and Provincial Government for this wonderful investment in kidney care right here in Kingston,” said KHSC president and CEO Dr. David Pichora. “We were extremely excited when we received word that we would be receiving funding to open a new satellite dialysis clinic as the expansion of services in Kingston has been the number one priority for our regional renal program.”
Kingston Health Sciences Centre at their Kingston General Hospital site provides hemodialysis services for the Kingston area. The KGH hemodialysis unit was operating at 95 per cent of capacity in the third quarter of 2021-22 and is projected to reach 100 per cent capacity by fiscal year 2023-24 to fiscal year 2024-25.
There is no additional physical space at KGH to add new hemodialysis units at that location to meet projected community demand, so the new satellite unit will be constructed. The current plan envisions locating the off-site dialysis unit in a community setting to accommodate the increasing demand.
The hospital’s current plan for the off-site hemodialysis unit will immediately add more dialysis stations with room to add still more stations in the future to accommodate the expected increased demand for renal services over the next 5-10 years.