Province Announces $626,000 to Expand Home Dialysis
The province is investing $626,000 in the expansion of the home therapy program so more Nova Scotians living with kidney failure will have better dialysis care, closer to home.
Deputy Premier Frank Corbett made the announcement today, Nov. 14, as part of the province's new capital plan to make life better for families.
The funding provides $526,000 for home hemodialysis machines for patients in Cape Breton District Health Authority and Capital Health. An additional $100,000 will help to continue to develop and implement home peritoneal dialysis training and support programs in South West Nova Scotia.
"This strategic investment is a positive step in providing better health care to people receiving dialysis," said Mr. Frank Corbett. "Receiving this care closer to home will make life better for Nova Scotians living with kidney disease and their families."
It takes one to two months for a patient to complete home hemeodialysis training, but once completed, they are able to self-manage their dialysis in their own homes, with support from care providers. Before this investment, patients from Cape Breton who wanted home hemodialysis training had to travel to Halifax.
"Unfortunately, not all patients with end-stage kidney failure can have a kidney transplant right away," said nephrologist Tom Hewlett, chair of the Department of Medicine, Cape Breton District Health Authority, and a clinical advisor to the Nova Scotia Renal Program. "For those patients, home dialysis therapies are the best option.
"We have had success introducing local home dialysis training in the region over the last 15 years, and the addition of local home hemodialysis teaching means less travel and less expense for our patients and their families, and will help reduce the burden of illness. We have always put a high priority on treating patients as close to home as possible."
Both home hemodialyis and peritoneal dialysis patients receive an individualized plan based on their condition and can design their home therapy plan around their work and social schedule.
For the second time in the province's history, government is releasing the capital plan before the spring budget. The 2012-13 capital plan will invest millions to make life better for families. It will create thousands of good jobs, grow the economy, and provide better health care. The capital plan in invests in projects that are most important to Nova Scotians like emergency rooms, schools, roads and hospital equipment.