And moving now to the hospital in Belize City, the KHMH today received a donation of 3 new dialysis machines accompanied with the chairs. This new addition is vital to the hospital as it continues to provide life saving treatment to patients with renal failure.
With every new machine, they are able to increase the number of sessions these patients have per week, which increases the number of patients who receive the treatment. Before this donation, they were able to do 20 session a week, and at the handing over ceremony, the Director of Medical Services, Adrian Coye, explained that they are hoping to increase those.
Dr. Adrian Coye - Director of Medical Services, KHMH
"We are extremely thankful for this injection into a very vital program and activity that we have. Renal failure, especially chronic renal failure, is of epidemic proportions in Belize. We started our journey with renal failure in 2010 with Karl Heusner and Ministry of Health and in that period of time we were able to manage 15 patients regularly with chronic therapies only. Over the years however we've had many major milestones. So, we had in the beginning 5 or so dialysis machines and in the past year and a havl we've increased our capacity to 8 units which matches going from chronic renal failure to acute renal failure care. So, in Karl Heusner's journey, we are not able to manage patients in our ICU that need hemodialysis, we are able to manage in the medical ward that need hemodialysis and with our COVID battle we've developed the capacity to deliver dialysis patients with COVID or suspected patients under investigation. Just to share with what may not be commonly known, apart from hemodialysis, we have also had a track record in the past of offering peritoneal dialysis. We also offer the vascular access for dialysis patients. So that service is fairly unique for Karl Heusner as well. More than 90% of the patients who get vascular dialysis, for the whole country, they're all done here. So temporary dialysis catheter insertion, permanent dialysis catheter insertion and the actual surgeries and even graph placement."
The donation cost approximately $80,000.
