Contact: Susan Barber Lindquist, (715) 838-3012
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The Luther Midelfort Dialysis Center at 3845 London Road has expanded.
A 4,310-foot addition, which recently opened, enables the center to double its number of dialysis chairs from 12 to 24, allowing the facility to serve 96 patients. The unit is open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week. Most patients receive dialysis three times a week.
Dialysis is a treatment process that performs the functions of healthy kidneys:
• Removes waste, salt and fluids to prevent them from building up in the body.
• Maintains safe levels of potassium, sodium and bicarbonate in the body.
• Helps control blood pressure.
The expansion project added a conference room, dietitian offices, storage space and technical equipment. The water system also was upgraded. Water used for dialysis passes through a specialized treatment system to remove contaminants that can be harmful to patients with kidney disease. Pure water is necessary because the average dialysis patient is exposed to about 360 liters of fluid a week, where the average healthy person drinks 10 and 14 liters a week.
“Dialysis is a life-sustaining treatment often used when no other treatment options are available,” says registered nurse Dawn Tweed, director of Luther Midelfort’s Dialysis Services and Nephrology Department. “We are so pleased to be able to expand at the London Road center, where patient demand has been growing.”
The London Road center, which opened in 2003, was at capacity a year later. Patients on the waiting list were treated at other Luther Midelfort dialysis centers, which are operated collaboratively with Mayo Clinic Dialysis Services.
Luther Midelfort has dialysis centers in Barron, Menomonie and two in Eau Claire, serving a total of 170 patients. Dialysis also can be done at home.
For more information about dialysis, call Luther Midelfort at 800-773-3171. Nephrology is the branch of medicine concerned with the kidneys. For information or to make an appointment with Luther Midelfort’s Nephrology Department, call 715-838-6595.
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In partnership with Mayo Clinic, Luther Midelfort offers a full range of quality medical services, including cardiac and orthopedic surgery, cancer and trauma care programs. Through a network of community-based healthcare providers in west-central Wisconsin, Luther Midelfort provides access to experts close to home.
