CEO Update: Adding nephrology and dialysis services

Michael Calhoun shares the latest happenings at CMH in his monthly CEO Updates. He is the CEO/executive director of CMH and the Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation.

We’ve recognized the need for dialysis services at Citizens Memorial Hospital for a long time. We had been working on plans for a dialysis center before the pandemic but had to put the plans on hold. Then, we determined that bringing on a nephrologist and adding the nephrology service line would indicate when we would move forward with the dialysis center.

Nephrologist Russell Davis, D.O., joined CMH in September when the CMH Nephrology Clinic opened. He has actively engaged with us over the last year at planning and what that means for CMH in terms of adding nephrology to a clinic, inpatient units, our long-term care facilities and home programs. Patients want to be able to stay at CMH, and the No. 1 reason they get transferred to another facility is because we don’t have inpatient dialysis. We will be able to add dialysis to our inpatient facility, which means patients can get care closer to home here at CMH, where they want to stay.

We broke ground on the center Nov. 7 and look forward to construction starting soon. Continue reading or watch the video that also includes Dr. Davis and Steve Retherford, CMH director of facility and design construction. You’ll learn more about the planning process and how patients will benefit from the dialysis center.

Retherford: Pulse Design, an architect in Kansas City, has worked with many of the bigger dialysis providers in the region. We had the opportunity to custom-fit the building with the patient in mind. That led us down the road to designing and being able to take advantage of our site with our views. We were able to talk about concepts that were really patient-focused and not so much center-focused.

Dr. Davis: Dialysis units often are in strip malls or in buildings where there’s not a lot of windows. All the patients are in a very confined space, staring at each other. The good thing about the design for the new building is everyone will be in their own space, facing a glass wall of windows. They will get to look out at nature and have a very open concept, along with state-of-the-art equipment.

Calhoun: Another important aspect is making sure that Dr. Davis is present in the facility, not just when he’s in the clinic but also when patients come in for dialysis. We’ve added the nephrology clinic as a part of this project.

Retherford: We have the in-center hemodialysis treatment area and an area just for the clinic. The patients arriving on campus don’t have to seek out the physician in a different building. It all happens in one spot.

Calhoun: We also will be able to train our patients to have home dialysis options whenever that meets their needs. Our design makes accommodations for training, facilities and the opportunity to train patients on how to do dialysis at home. It was very custom and very much reflective of our needs that would serve our patients and community the best.

Dr. Davis: Peritoneal dialysis and home dialysis are especially important in a community where people are working, would like to continue to work and have that autonomy to be at home and live their normal lives without having interruptions by going to the dialysis center during the day, three days a week.

People are happier when they have control of their lives and control when they do dialysis. It gives people a sense of freedom and pride.

Retherford: We have a private hallway with four home training rooms set up to emulate the experience they’re going to have at home. It creates a very focused attention to their needs and training while going through that process. It’s another one of those balances inside the design we were able to do since it was a custom approach to our program.

We were fortunate to have JE Dunn Construction help us as a construction manager. They have received the final plans and sent them to the community for trade partner bidding. Once we get the bids back in and finalize the contract, we’ll be able to start construction.

Calhoun: Also really important was the amount of learning that took place in the planning stages. We knew Dr. Davis was coming, so we were able to reach out to him and get his feedback from his training. He just recently finished the most up-to-date training related to nephrology and dialysis.

Also, Pulse Design really has experience with building dialysis centers. We’ve also worked with Cox Health, who has allowed us to tour their facilities, and they’re providing consultative resources related to the care that we’re providing.