Renal Care Group: Prince Hall Dialysis Unit

LOCATION IN FACILITY: Second Floor

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 381-7696

TARGET POPULATION/PRIMARY CLIENT GROUP(S):
Persons whose kidneys are not doing their job need dialysis. Every year, kidney disease affects millions of people from every walk of life and all ages. Of those, about 17,000 will suffer kidney failure, known as end stage renal disease (ESRD). Fortunately, dialysis provides a way for the work of the kidneys to be performed.

How Does Dialysis Work?:

Dialysis is a medical procedure which takes the wastes and excess fluids out of blood and regulates body chemistry when the kidneys are not working properly. A machine acts as an artificial kidney to clean the blood by means of two chambers separated by a thin membrane. The blood, usually drawn from the arm, flows into one chamber. The other chamber contains a cleansing fluid (called dialysate). The membrane, which has thousands of tiny holes, allows small waste molecules to pass through into the cleansing fluid, where they can be removed. Blood cells are too large to move through the membrane and are returned to the body. Persons with ESRD usually must undergo a four-hour treatment at a dialysis center three times a week. They can read, watch TV, visit, or sleep durin that time.

What Causes Kidney Failure?

Kidneys can be damaged by many things, including certain diseases; infections; obstructions, such as kidney stones and cysts; birth defects; injury or shock; prolonged high blood pressure; complications of diabetes and pregnancy; poisons such as certain solvents and insecticides

Besides dialysis, does St. Louis Connect Care offer any other services to its patients at Prince Hall?

Yes, dialysis patients receiving treatment at either of Connect Care's two dialysis units have the services of a professional support team, consisting of doctors, nurses, social workers, dieticians and technicians. Patients also may be eligible for transportation assistance.

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