Construction of a new Renal Dialysis Unit for residents of Sun Country Regional Health Authority (SCRHA) is on schedule, according to the chair of the Joint Renal Dialysis Fund-Raising Committee for the new service.

“We expect construction to be completed by June, with patients being treated in the new Renal Dialysis Unit by August 1, 2007” says Roy Ludwig.

The total project cost of the new Renal Dialysis Unit is $1.7 million. Saskatchewan Health has committed $1.2 million to the project.

“There are a dozen people right now from SCRHA who travel for two and three hours, three times a week to Regina for a four-hour dialysis treatment,” says Ludwig.

“With this new Renal Dialysis Unit, we can reduce the number of people who need to make that long trip so often,” he says.

Renal Dialysis is a specialized procedure to clean the blood of people with chronic kidney failure.

The new Renal Dialysis Unit initially will provide service for 12 residents of Southeast Saskatchewan with stable conditions. The Renal Dialysis Unit will be housed in St. Joseph’s Hospital of Estevan.

Ludwig says the Joint SCRHA/St. Joseph’s Hospital Renal Dialysis Fund-Raising Committee is hoping the communities that will benefit from the new service will donate the remaining $500,000 needed to complete the project.