North Country Hospital Opens New Dialysis Unit

Leahy Hails New Facility That Will Offer
Close-To-Home Treatment To Local Patients

NEWPORT, Vt. (Friday, March 24) – Sen. Patrick Leahy Friday celebrated the grand opening of a long-awaited kidney dialysis unit at Newport’s North Country Hospital, fulfilling a 2004 pledge to patients and community leaders that he would secure funding for the much-needed facility.  Patients, hospital administrators and donors joined Leahy in opening the nine-station facility that will ensure that patients are able to get treatments closer to home.

Renal dialysis is a recurring treatment used to help patients suffering from ailments such as kidney disease.  The outpatient procedure uses mechanized assistance to help with proper kidney function.  Patients requiring dialysis treatment in Franklin, Lamoille, Essex, Orleans and Caledonia Counties have commuted more than an hour to receive treatment at dialysis centers in Burlington or Hanover, often traveling long hours several times a week or month.  Leahy pledged to find a solution when he visited North Country Hospital in August 2004 to meet with dialysis patients who face the grueling commute, hearing their personal stories.

“This facility has been a long time needed and a long time in coming,” said Leahy.  “Marcelle and I are proud to be part of the community effort that made this project possible.  Without the support from a partnership that includes the American Legion, students at the Irasburg School, local businesses and the Vermont Legislature, this project would not have happened.”

“The remarkable thing about this is the power of the community,” said Dr. Ron Holland of North Country Hospital, whose persistence spearheaded efforts to open the facility.  “It’s equal justice under the law.”

“This is an important day for the people served by North County Hospital and I am very pleased that Fletcher Allen, as the state's academic health center, is playing a part in it,” said Dr. Melinda Estes, president and chief executive officer of Fletcher Allen Health Care. 

At a total cost of $1.5 million, Leahy secured $495,000 in 2004 for the project as a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the panel that writes the federal government’s annual budget bills.  The State of Vermont committed $485,000 to complete the project, and a North Country Hospital community capital campaign has raised the remaining balance.

# # # # #