Kidney patients travelling between Hillcrest and Pinetown looking to receive expert treatment from a top nephrologist can now visit the National Renal Care (NRC) dialysis unit situated in Hillcrest Private Hospital, KwaZulu-Natal.
NRC, South Africa’s largest private dialysis provider and a 50/50 joint venture between Netcare and Adcock Ingram Critical Care, has set up an interim dialysis unit housing nephrologist Dr B Naidoo, while construction gets underway to build a new facility.
“The unit is the first of its kind in the Hillcrest area to offer chronic haemodialysis, says Hillcrest’s NRC unit leader Cynthia Zungu, a trained renal dialysis nurse, who has been in the industry since 1995.
Haemodialysis therapies filter blood using dialyser and dialysis machines. Dialysis machines provide those whose kidneys can no longer eliminate dangerous toxins from the body with an artificial purifying mechanism.
“The interim unit established in the stay ward at the hospital offers a range of specialist services including 24-hour mobile acute dialysis services, chronic haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, which filters blood inside the body after the abdomen is filled with a special cleaning solution, as well as a Healthy Start programme for people diagnosed with kidney disease,” explains Brendon Hill, National Renal Care operations manager.
The primary function of the Healthy Start programme is to educate patients with early stage kidney disease about ways to slow down the progression of the disease to prevent complete kidney failure.
The new Hillcrest NRC unit is expected to be completed towards the end of the year and will have 16 beds, accommodating 80 haemodialysis day patients, explains Hill.
“The Hillcrest Private Hospital is committed to nurturing an environment of health and healing through engaging relationships between its staff and patients. It offers a comprehensive range of top medical facilities to meet the growing needs of the community. Its state-of-the-art technology is complemented by highly-skilled doctors, professional staff and a dynamic management team, all of whom are committed to its shared vision of moving beyond healthcare in both service delivery and customer relations,” says Glen Passmore, director of Hillcrest Private Hospital.
For further information, please contact the National Renal Care Hillcrest unit on tel. 031 768 8076
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Issued by: Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA) for National Renal Care
Contact: Martina Nicholson, Graeme Swinney or Monique Vanek
Telephone: (011) 469 3016
Email: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]