Contributed photo/Nate BodenstabHOULTON — The guest speaker at the Houlton Rotary Club meeting on Monday, Nov. 7, was Aron Chalou, a nurse in the County Dialysis Center at The Aroostook Medical Center and who was the guest of Rotarian Julie Delano.
The County Dialysis Center (CDC) provides treatment for chronic and renal end stage kidney disease. Healthy kidney function removes wastes and toxins from the body. People can survive with a kidney that only functions at 10 percent.
The patients who undergo dialysis have kidneys that do not function at all due to complications from diabetes, from congenital disease, or illness. Forty-nine is the average age of dialysis patients at CDC and 56 percent are not eligible for a kidney transplant. Ninety-five percent of care is paid by Medicare. The CDC opened in 1997 thanks to a community effort with just six patients. At the time the closest center was in Bangor and now there is one in Lincoln as well. Dialysis must be done three times per week to be effective.
Today, each day the unit in Presque Isle can handle two shifts of 12 people for a total of 24 patients daily. There are 12 stations with 72 patients for a total of 11,232 treatments per year. Each treatment costs the patient $444. Medicare only pays $221. Most patients must have treatment three times per week.
CDC is a fully staffed unit and the Center for Medicare Service rates the CDC with a 5-star quality rating. One of the reasons that Chalou came to Rotary is that they are doing a fund drive to raise money for the center that is now being renovated. The new County Dialysis Center has been redesigned to improve quality and efficiency.
The North Street space will have more windows and skylights than the old design and there will be new state of the art equipment for the patients. Donation levels are labeled under the Wall of Courage with names such as Heroic, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. And there are naming opportunities for the building and for areas of the center, such as the waiting room or the reception area. Pledges are welcome and for more information or scheduling a tour the contact number is 768-4350.
