Independent Dialysis Group Opening New Facility in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
WELLSBORO, Pa (WENY) -- It's been about three months since the only dialysis center in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania closed. Since then, the patients who went there for treatment were dispersed across the Commonwealth and the Southern Tier. However, that may not be for too much longer.
"We signed a lease with the landlord at 70 Plaza Lane in Wellsboro and [we] expect to utilize as much of the existing footprint as possible. We don't think our scope of work is going to require much of a permitting process to complete, but we do have power and water systems to install," said one of the owners of Independent Dialysis Group, Adrian Amedia.
The 70 Plaza Lane location is the former site of the Wellsboro U.S. Renal Care location, that closed in late February. Amedia said they'll have to ship equipment and machines from another facility to Wellsboro, as they start to set up the new location.
"We have a water system that needs to be installed that requires three-phase power. It's a huge upgrade from the water system that was there previously. We have some small equipment like acid mixers and things to install, so a lot of internal plumbing with pex piping," said Amedia.
Amedia said they hired almost the entire staff from the Wellsboro U.S. Renal Care facility. He didn't specify who was returning, but mentioned about 10 employees would work there, and could treat 50 to 55 patients total, either at the facility or through home modality.
"We've also taken it upon ourselves to train one of the nurses up there on home therapies. In the past, they had a home therapy nurse [who] came from two hours away to support their patient population. We're going to have a nurse on-site trained in all three home therapy modalities. So, we'll be expanding the offering of home therapies up there through her," said Amedia.
Amedia said he hopes the new Independent Dialysis Group's facility will open by August or September, and is on a five-year lease.
In a statement to WENY News from a representative from U.S. Renal Care back in January:
"U.S. Renal Care had to make the very difficult decision to close our Wellsboro center. Providing care in communities like Wellsboro is a challenge many healthcare providers face as Medicare reimbursement has not kept up with the rising costs of operating a dialysis center. As a result, Wellsboro, like other centers across the country, have struggled to cover costs and unfortunately, this sometimes results in a center closing. U.S. Renal Care is taking every measure to ensure our patients have access to the lifesaving care they need. We are working closely with each of our patients and their physicians to help them identify another dialysis center without experiencing any interruptions to their treatment schedule."
While Anita Hoyt, a dialysis patient who received treatment at U.S. Renal Care in Wellsboro is grateful a new center is opening, she's hoping it opens sooner rather than later. Hoyt said she travels about 45 minutes to an hour in the early morning, typically on a bus, then waits for the others at the center to finish their treatment to take the bus back to Mansfield.
"The trip takes forever on a road I'm being thrown back and forth, side to side on a bus... We want to feel normal and human again and not have to be thrown all over the place in different directions [for treatment]... Is it going to be too much on our systems? Are we going to have heart attacks? Strokes? These are all valid concerns when you're on dialysis. People don't think so but these are things you worry about because these things can happen. So many people come to the point where it's been so hard on them [that] they ask 'Why am I still doing this? It would be easier just to say I'm done.' Some people do, I've watched them," said Hoyt.
Hoyt hopes everyone from the former facility will keep fighting, so they can be reunited again when the new center opens in Wellsboro.
"I want everyone to at least have a fighting chance. I think a new place here will give everyone a fighting chance because they won't have to go so far and be so tired, or in so much pain all the time," said Hoyt.
Hoyt also hopes people like Jenna, Nicole, and Marcy [former employees of U.S. Renal Care] also return to the Independent Dialysis Group location in Wellsboro.
