Northwest Kidney Centers has received approval from the state of Washington to move and expand its dialysis clinic in Kirkland.
The move, scheduled for next March, will help Northwest Kidney Centers better serve the increasing number of people with kidney failure on the Eastside.
The new 17,000-square-foot center, located at 11327 NE 120th St., Kirkland, will replace Northwest Kidney Centers’ 17-year-old clinic in the EvergreenHealth Professional Center at 12303 NE 130th Lane.
The new facility will double the usable space for dialysis patients, is on the ground level with convenient parking, and will be more cost-efficient for the nonprofit Northwest Kidney Centers. It will offer 20 dialysis stations (compared to 15 at the current facility) and will include a training area for home dialysis patients, as well as a conference room open to the community.
“We are especially excited to create a comprehensive home dialysis hub for the Eastside, where we can train and monitor patients who give themselves dialysis treatments at home,” said Joyce F. Jackson, president and chief executive of Northwest Kidney Centers. “We will continue to offer peritoneal dialysis training and support at the new facility, but now also will provide home hemodialysis support. Previously, Eastsiders had to travel to Seattle or Renton for home hemodialysis training and now it will be available much closer to where they live.”
About dialysis
Dialysis is a treatment that removes wastes and fluid from the body when the kidneys no longer do. A person with kidney failure must get dialysis three times a week or more, or receive a kidney transplant, to stay alive.
About kidney disease
The leading causes of chronic kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure. Certain ethnic groups are at higher risk, especially African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Hispanics and Native Americans.
Also at risk are people with a family history of chronic kidney disease, and those who are obese or older than 60. People with a risk factor should see their doctor and get tested. A simple blood pressure check, urine test and blood test will indicate how well the kidneys are working.
Kidney disease often has no symptoms until it’s in a late stage and kidneys have been damaged. Among all adult Americans, one in seven has the disease and many don’t realize it. Kidney disease has increased 30 percent in the last decade.
Northwest Kidney Centers keeps people in western Washington alive with dialysis therapy, educates the public about kidney health and collaborates with UW Medicine in the Kidney Research Institute.
It provided 240,000 dialysis treatments last year to patients in 15 centers and 11 local hospitals. Of its 1,526 patients, 257 people give themselves dialysis treatments at home.
Northwest Kidney Centers is one of very few community-based, nonprofit dialysis providers in the country. Founded in 1962 in Seattle, it was the first out-of-hospital dialysis program in the world and it is still a model in the field. See www.nwkidney.org.
