by Linda Straker
- General Hospital will be offering dialysis treatment at EC$300 per treatment
- Government-subsidised treatment will be managed by a separate entity
- Portable dialysis machines to be replaced by permanent machines later in year
Health Minister Nickolas Steele announced that as of mid-February, the General Hospital will be offering dialysis treatment to patients seeking renal replacement therapy. The treatment will be offered at about half the price of what is currently charged by the private sector.
“It will cost EC$300 per treatment,” Steele said during the weekly post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday. The intention is for each person to be able to receive at least 3 treatments per week. At present, most patients seeking dialysis treatment received 2 treatments per week due to the cost. The cost per treatment in the private sector is no more than EC$800.
“We want to make it affordable and this has always been our intention,” he said, pointing out that the reduction is due to government subsidising the treatment which will be managed by a separate entity. He did not name the entity because others who had submitted proposals were yet to be informed as to who won the management contract.
He further explained that the treatment will be facilitated with the use of two or three portable dialysis machines and later in the year, those will be replaced by permanent machines. The portable machines will then be placed at Mirabeau Hospital in St Andrew and Princess Royal Hospital in Carriacou.
Dialysis is a medical treatment which filters and purifies the blood using a machine, to help keep fluids and electrolytes in balance when the kidneys can no longer perform these functions naturally.
This is good, hope that it will be long term with excellent care to the patients and great care of the machine.