Work started on dialysis unit here

While it won’t be up and running until at least May, early work on the new dialysis unit at La Verendrye hospital here started last Thursday in the day hospital area
“Things are progressing,” Wayne Woods, CEO of Riverside Health Care Facilities Inc., noted Tuesday. “We’re still working on the drawings, but as you can see, we’re getting ready.”
The early work so far has seen hospital maintenance staff remove several interior walls, flooring, electrical outlets, light fixtures, and all furnishings.
Everything had to be stripped down or moved to allow for some infrastructure work in the near future, including the installation of a drain system in the floor, Melvin Morken explained while working on-site yesterday.
Work then will move from there as the plans are finalized, noted Woods.
Once operational, up to 24 district patients will benefit from the dialysis unit’s services. Woods said he knows of about 20 residents currently in need of the treatments.
The treatments will be offered six days a week here. District dialysis patients now take treatments three days a week, usually in Thunder Bay.
In related news, Woods said there’s “nothing much to report” as far as progress on the $8-million renovations earmarked for La Verendrye.
“It will take a while–the plans are still being worked out,” he noted. But Woods said he remains hopeful the plan will be approved by the Ministry of Health by late spring.
The extensive overhaul includes a new wing located on the south side of the building, part of which will house the permanent dialysis unit.
Renovations could take 18 months to two years to complete.