Kidney Dialysis Operations In Transition Deaconess Hopes To Open Center As Sacred Heart Plans Expansion And Sales To For-Profit Group

Call it the kidney dialysis shuffle.

Deaconess Medical Center is trying to get into the kidney dialysis business. Sacred Heart Medical Center is trying to get out - after it expands its blood filtering operations.

And a for-profit company that was twice refused permission to open dialysis operations in Spokane wants to keep Deaconess out of the trade and stop Sacred Heart from expanding.

The details will play out in a set of public hearings before the Washington Department of Health in Spokane on May 12.

Deaconess applied to open an eight-station center on the first floor of the medical center in February. The hospital currently only offers dialysis to patients in intensive care.

As a result, Deaconess patients who need longterm dialysis have to transfer to Sacred Heart, explained Tena Cramer, assistant vice president for patient care at Deaconess. The new center, “allows us to have a full continuum of services for our patients.”

There is ample demand, Cramer said, adding it would give Spokane-area dialysis patients a nonprofit alternative once Sacred Heart completes its sale to a for-profit company based in Tennessee.

The state Health Department has the final say. If it approves the Deaconess plan, the kidney center could open by early fall.

The building and equipment would cost $480,000 and serve 48 patients by operating 12 hours a day, six days a week. Staff would have to be recruited.

The only dialysis service in Eastern Washington and North Idaho now is provided by Sacred Heart. But Sacred Heart has nearly completed the sale of its dialysis centers in Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Moses Lake and Omak to Renal Care Group of Nashville.

Meanwhile, Sacred Heart is petitioning the state for permission to add four dialysis stations to its north Spokane center. That also will be the subject of a public hearing May 12.

In both cases, the Health Department will consider whether there is sufficient demand for more dialysis services. Other factors include the financial feasibility of building the stations, the quality of medical care the applicants provide, and whether the Deaconess and Sacred Heart plans are the most efficient, cost-effective options for dialysis patients, said Karen Nidermayer of the Health Department.

Neither application is going to sail through without a fight. Fresenius Medical Care, a national, for-profit dialysis company, requested a public hearing on the Sacred Heart and Deaconess proposals.

It opposes both, although it won’t say why.

“The purpose of the hearing is so we can present our objections and concerns,” said Fali Sidhva, regional manager in the Northwest for Fresenius. “We would not want to go into the details of the objections before the hearings.”

Fresenius operates dialysis centers in Walla Walla and Portland. It has twice been refused permission to open dialysis centers in Spokane because of “quality of care concerns,” Health Department officials said.

The company said it is working to alleviate the state’s concern and get its application approved.

“We feel Fresenius Medical Care has a proven track record,” Sidhva said.

These sidebars appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT Public hearings

The Washington Department of Health will hold public hearings in Spokane on May 12 at the Shadle Public Library regarding new kidney dialysis centers. At 10:30 a.m. the state will cover Deaconess Medical Center’s application to open eight dialysis stations. At 2:30 p.m. the state will cover Sacred Heart Medical Center’s application to add four new stations in north Spokane. The public can present testimony at both hearings as well as ask questions about the applications. Public comment closes at the end of that day.

PROPOSAL

Under the Deaconess plan, its center would serve 48 patients by operating 12 hours a day, six days a week.