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DaVita St. Luke’s Center is Valley’s First Pediatric Dialysis Unit (Sponsored)

St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) and DaVita Kidney Care, a division of DaVita Inc., and a leading provider of kidney care services, hosted an open house debuting the first pediatric dialysis unit in the Lehigh Valley earlier this month.

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The new pediatric dialysis center is located at St. Luke’s Allentown Home Training center, 1901 Hamilton St., Allentown.

St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) and DaVita Kidney Care, a division of DaVita Inc., and a leading provider of kidney care services, hosted an open house debuting the first pediatric dialysis unit in the Lehigh Valley earlier this month.

“We are extremely proud of the partnership between St. Luke’s University Health Network and DaVita Kidney Care to design and develop this unique home pediatric dialysis facility,” said Martin Schreiber, chief medical officer of home therapy for DaVita, before the Jan. 18 event. “This facility offers patients and families a fresh approach to treat kidney failure, for our youngest patients, within the comfort and security of their own home.”

The new pediatric dialysis unit is located in the St. Luke’s Allentown Home Training center, a 10,000-square-foot facility at 1901 Hamilton Street. The center has a separate entrance for children and their families, and features two dedicated training suites for pediatric dialysis education and support.

With the launch of its pediatric dialysis unit, SLUHN is empowering local families to administer their children’s dialysis treatments at home, where patients may be more comfortable and experience less disruption in daily schedules.

“We are excited to offer this treatment modality to the pediatric population here in the Lehigh Valley,” said Dr. Tecile Andolino, the unit’s medical director. “Patients who carry a diagnosis of kidney failure used to have to travel long distances to have this service provided. Opening this pediatric dialysis center here in the Lehigh Valley gives families the ability to have one of the many facets of their care take place closer to home under the guidance of our outstanding team.”

The unit will educate patients ages 6 to 18 and their families on how to use a cycler machine, which is a little larger than a home printer, to administer peritoneal dialysis treatments at home.

With peritoneal dialysis, a cleansing fluid flows through a catheter that’s implanted into the child’s abdomen and filters waste products from his or her blood. Using this method, treatments can be completed while, for example, the child is doing homework, watching television or sleeping.

Once trained, families can dialyze patients daily at home. This is a crucial aspect of a daily treatment schedule–as opposed to an interrupted schedule where patients receive dialysis only several times a week–and may be a better option for some patients because it most closely mimics normal kidney function.

After training, patients and their care partners will visit the pediatric dialysis unit once a month for assessments, blood work and review of their home flow sheets to help make sure patients are able to experience the maximum effectiveness of the treatments.

St. Luke’s Allentown Home Training’s pediatric dialysis unit is accepting new patients. For more information or to make an appointment, call 610-776-1479.

Note: This story was contributed by St. Luke’s University Health Network. Its publication is part of a news partnership between Saucon Source and SLUHN.

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About the author

Josh Popichak

Josh Popichak is the owner, publisher and editor of Saucon Source. A Lehigh Valley native, he's covered local news since 2005 and previously worked for Berks-Mont News and AOL/Patch. Contact him at josh@sauconsource.com.

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