Donation Delights Dialysis Patients
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A new dialysis chair is now on-site at La Verendrye Hospital – Riverside Health Care in Fort Frances thanks to the generosity of the Emo Food Bank & Thrift Shop who donated $5,600 towards its purchase. Pictured from its Board of Directors are (from L-R): Gerd O’Sullivan, Victor Gustafson, Eileen Bragg, Carol Hyatt, Conrad Dueck, Charlene McTavish along with Patricia Hyatt, Registered Nurse, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre – Fort Frances Dialysis Unit, with Colleen Smith, who was comfortably receiving dialysis in the new chair. |
By Heather Vita - March 23, 2019
All of us like comfortable seating, but having a comfy chair is of much greater importance to patients receiving dialysis as they are sitting in a chair for 3.5 – 4.5 hours at a time, 3 times a week during treatment. Dialysis is a treatment that takes over kidney function if a person’s organs stop doing their job. It filters out extra solutes, toxins and fluid from a person’s blood.
At La Verendrye Hospital – Riverside Health Care in Fort Frances, patients can receive life-saving dialysis. And now, thanks to a donation of $5,600 from the Emo Food Bank and Thrift Store, they’ll be doing it in greater comfort with the addition of a new electronic chair.
Registered Nurse, Patricia Hyatt said, “It is so nice to have our dialysis chairs replaced with these new, comfortable electronic chairs. Patients are now able to independently adjust their dialysis chairs using an electronic control, much like the use of a TV remote. It allows patients to be more independent and reposition themselves during their dialysis treatment.”
The new chair – which is one of several that has recently been replaced – comes with memory foam, which allows patients to be much more comfortable during treatment. The chairs also adjust in height and recline nicely. The foot rest adjusts easily to assist patients especially if they are experiencing leg and foot cramps.
Adds Hyatt, “Our patients have reported that they were very comfortable in the new chairs, especially on their backs. Most patients like the fact that they are in control of positioning themselves during their time here. It offers them a little more freedom.”
Victor Gustafson, Treasurer for the Emo Food Bank and Thrift Shop was delighted to see the new chair in use and said, “On behalf of our Board of Directors, we are very pleased to have made this donation to our local dialysis unit. The funds for this project are from the sale of items in the thrift shop and we are happy and excited to make this contribution to the health of the Fort Frances and Rainy River district. Over the last four years we have been able to donate over twenty thousand dollars locally and out of the province. Our team and volunteers are very proud of our organization and are happy to help out in small and large ways.”
Concluded Hyatt, “I can speak for the entire dialysis unit when I say thank you so much for this donation and for thinking of our dialysis patients. This unit is their home-away-from home as they spend so much time here. We are very appreciative for such a generous donation.”